Beschreibung:

Orwell (George). Homage to Catalonia, 1st edition, Secker & Warburg, 1938, wood-engraved bookplate of Archibald Lyall (by Tranquillo Marangoni) to front pastedown, original green cloth, gilt-titled spine, slightly dust-soiled, original pictorial dust jacket (unclipped, with price 10s. 6d.), a few marginal chips and tears with small loss at right foot of spine and lower outer corner of lower panel, spine toned and with a small damp mark below author's name and another over imprint at foot of lower panel, 8vo (Qty: 1) Archibald ('Archie') Laurence Lyall (1904-1964) was trained as a barrister but also published several travel books. These include Black and White make Brown, an account of his journey in 1936 to the Cape Verde islands and Portuguese Guinea, and The Companion Guide to the South of France, covering the coastal region of France between Menton and the Spanish frontier. In the 1930s he landed in 'military intelligence' and became a member of Special Operations Executive in the Second World War. In the 1950s he stayed mostly in Italy and in a new career he became an actor in at least six Italian films. Fenwick A6. A scarce copy in the dust jacket. When Orwell's regular publisher Gollancz refused to publish it Frederick Warburg took it on and brought out the book in April 1938. The work records Orwell's time fighting with the Socialists in the Spanish Civil War and though little regarded at the time is now seen by many as one of the author's finest literary achievements.