Friday 14 May 2010

Patricia Highsmith First Editions, Part 2

UPDATE, October 2013: I've since put together an Existential Ennui permanent page, the Patricia Highsmith First Edition Book Cover Gallery, drawing solely on the books in my own collection.

Aaaaaaand we're back with the second half. Part 1 can be found directly below this post, if anyone cares. Interestingly (to me at least), in compiling this second part, I've come to realise that latterly the UK editions of Highsmith's books were often published before the US ones (and in the case of her final novel, nearly ten years before), a fact which reflects the greater popularity of the American writer in the UK and Europe. Fascinating, eh? Anyway. Onward!














12) The Tremor of Forgery
Left: Garden City/Doubleday, US, 1969; right: Penguin paperback, UK, 1987 (Heinemann, UK, 1969 unavailable)



















13) Ripley Under Ground
Top left: Garden City/Doubleday, US, 1970; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1971 (Mohan dustjacket)























14) A Dog's Ransom
Top left: Knopf, US, 1972; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1972























15) Ripley's Game
Top left: Knopf, US, 1974; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1974 (dustjacket photography by Graham Miller)























16) Edith's Diary
Top left: Simon & Schuster, US, 1977; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1977























17) The Boy Who Followed Ripley
Top left: Lippincott & Crowell, US, 1980; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK (1980 (dustjacket photography by Bill Richmond)























18) People Who Knock on the Door
Top left: Penzler, US, 1985; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1983























19) Found in the Street
Top and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1986 (Peter Dyer dustjacket/photo by Kinsman Taylor) (Atlantic Monthly Press, US, 1987 unavailable)






















20) Ripley Under Water
Top left: Knopf, US, 1992; top right and beneath: Bloomsbury, UK, 1991 (dustjacket illustration by Elspeth Ross)























21) Small g: A Summer Idyll
Top left: W. W. Norton, US, 2004; top right and beneath: Bloomsbury, UK, 1995 (Sarah Maxey dustjacket, illustration by David Remfry)

Thursday 13 May 2010

Patricia Highsmith First Editions, Part 1

UPDATE, October 2013: I've since put together an Existential Ennui permanent page, the Patricia Highsmith First Edition Book Cover Gallery, drawing solely on the books in my own collection.

I mentioned I might do this, and unlike all the other times I mentioned I might post something and then never did, this time I'm actually doing it. Yippee. Here, then, are as many as I could muster of the first edition hardback covers – both US and UK – for all twenty-one of Patricia Highsmith's novels (excluding The Price of Salt, a.k.a. Carol, the novel she wrote as Claire Morgan). There are some gaps, so if anyone can help fill those in (if anyone even reads this...), let me know. I've bunged in a few paperback covers too, just 'cos I have them. Hopefully this'll be a useful resource for anyone looking into Highsmith firsts, but even if not, it's the kind of pointlessly nerdy thing that keeps me happy. (You'll be able to tell the books I own, as I've photographed – usually quite badly – the full opened-out dustjackets.) I'm splitting it into two parts (Part 2 directly above this post), otherwise this post would be huuuuge; plus, images are a pain in the arse to move about in Blogger. Enjoy!


























1) Strangers on a Train
Top left: Harper & Brothers, US, 1950; top right: Cresset Press, UK, 1951; beneath: Corgi paperback, UK, 1952



























2) The Blunderer
Top left: Coward-McCann, US, 1954; top right: Cresset, UK, 1956; beneath: Pan paperback, UK, 1958



























3) The Talented Mr. Ripley
Top left: Coward-McCann, US, 1955; top right: Cresset, UK, 1957; beneath: Pan paperback, UK, 1960 (David Tayler cover art)















4) Deep Water
Left: Harper & Brothers, US, 1957; right: Pan paperback, UK, 1961 (Heinemann, UK, 1958 unavailable)



























5) A Game for the Living
Top left: Harper & Brothers, US, 1958; top right: Heinemann, UK, 1959; beneath: Pan paperback, UK, 1962 (Sam Peffer cover art)















6) This Sweet Sickness
Harper & Brothers, US, 1960 (Heinemann, UK, 1961 unavailable)





















7) The Cry of the Owl
Top left: Harper & Row, US, 1962; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1963 (John Bance dustjacket)





















8) The Two Faces of January
Top left: Doubleday, US, 1964; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1964 (John Bance dustjacket)





















9) The Glass Cell
Top left: Garden City/Doubleday, US, 1964; top right and beneath: Heinemann, UK, 1965 (M. Mohan dustjacket)





















10) A Suspension of Mercy
Heinemann, UK, 1965 (Tom Simmonds dustjacket) (The Story-Teller – the book's American title – Garden City/Doubleday, US, 1965 unavailable)





















11) Those Who Walk Away
Heinemann, UK, 1967 (Doubleday, US, 1967 unavailable)