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GUINNESS**, ALEC: : A Positively Final Appearance: A Journal,1996-1998

LONDON.HAMISH HAMILTON,1999.

ISBN 0241137888.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE/FINE. Owner b/w adhesive name+address label to top right-hand corner of ffe with an ink date below,but no price-clip to dw/dj - absence of publisher's pice - generally believed to be an export copy,which usually precedes the UK trade edn issues. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,monochrome author/ subject full-length photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with b/w+ gilt lettering,rear panel with thumbnail colour painting detail and with black+grey lettered critics' reviews; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+ fore-edges slightly aged/toned with minimal sporadic foxing/spotting otherwise generally clean; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain dark grey cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip,a beige+yellow striped headband and clean plain paler grey endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1- 245pp [paginated] includes author's preface,22 chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title page with subject's b/w portrait illustration to it's reverse,a title page,a dedication,contents list/ table and acknowledgements. 'My Name Escapes Me' (see my book ID's rja600 and rja620616 for UK,8vo HB+dw/dj, 1st edns),the diaries of Sir Alec Guinness,became an international bestseller when published in 1996.This new volume contains Sir Alec's journal since the summer of that year. The summer of 1996 ended well,with an operation that successfully treated an eye which had been useless for almost ten years.Further good news on the health front followed in March 1997.Thus fortified,Sir Alec continued his journal for the next eighteen months.These were tumultuous times for the nation - the election of Mr Blair,the death of Diana - but other matters continued to hold equal importance in Hampshire: the difficulties of the plane trees during the dry summer, the extraordinary appearance in the skies of the Hale-Bopp comet,the vulnerability of the hassocks in Steep Church and the experiments with Chinese cooking, encouraged by Ken Hom's TV enthusiasm. And then of course there are the books,films and plays that were enjoyed - mostly - throughout the year.Dickens and Patrick O'brian are read with delight. Shakespeare's birthday (his 433rd) is celebrated with a visit to Baz Lurmann's film Wiliam Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet',which gives pleasure despite its title and despite the fact that it leads to the melancholy thought that the worst Romeo ever was 'none other than me,moi-meme'.And a revival of Terence Rattigan's 'Cause Celebre' at the Lyric Theatre prompts some memories of the playwright who is putting bums on seats thirty years after he was dismissed by the avant-garde. Sir Alec reports on these,matters - local,national and cultural - with varying measures of acerbity and affection,and muses fascinatingly on books,films and theatre.The result is a worthy successor to the highly acclaimed volume of diaries. Please contact seller for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stock(s') shipping quotes are adjusted for any refunds AFTER receipt of order and BEFORE the despatch of the order,especially if the item is offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard US AIRMAIL to these destinations can now,in some cases,cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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