MANTEL PIECES.

UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 1.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,wrap-around,matt green+ red imaged background with gilt decoration,colour illustrated dw/dj panels,with author's white-lettered name,title and other white lettering to front; spine/backstrip with repeated,similarly colour lettered author name+title and b/w illustrated publisher's colophon to foot of same,rear panel with critics' white-lettered reviews for 'Wolf Hall'.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Top edges coloured(?) and clean,fore-edges bright,crisp and clean,both sets without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain black endpapers.UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-335pp [paginated] includes author's Introduction, 41assorted prose pieces,b/w illustration reproductions LRB Review covers amongst others),and other facsimile document reproductions,interspersed throughout the text and the book;from pp331 onwards,a page on the LRB London Review of Books,)a page about 4th Estate and last page with LRB covers credit,half-title+title pages,2pp blanks,contents list/ table and to the rear,a further 6pp blanks. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation. It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and entirety. A collection of twenty reviews,essays and pieces of memoir selected from three decades of the author's contributions to the London review of books. Subjects include Robespierre and Danton, the Hite report, Saudi Arabia (where she lived for four years in the 1980s), the Bulger case, John Osborne, the Virgin Mary as well as the pop icon Madonna, and Helen Duncan, Britain's last witch. There are essays about Jane Boleyn, Charles Brandon,Christopher Marlowe and Margaret Pole, Her famous lecture, 'Royal Bodies', which caused a media frenzy, explores the place of royal women in society and our imagination. Here too are some of her LRB diaries,including her first meeting with her stepfather and a confrontation with a circus strongman. Interleaved with letters and other ephemera gathered from the archive. Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight of this item, for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded, after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now 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. **