Mr. Norris Changes Trains

London: The Hogarth Press, 1947. 4th Printing. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. The fourth printing of the first edition, duodecimo size, 280 pp. Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (1904-1986), friend of both W.H. Auden and Stephen Spender, was living in Weimar Germany and witnessed the rise of Nazism. It was while there that we wrote the two "classic" novels of that era, this title, originally published in 1935, and "Goodbye to Berlin" (published in 1939).

Frequently published together under the title "The Berlin Stories", the novels loosely chronicle life in Germany in the 1930s, with the title "meant to evoke...not only Norris's continual moves from country to country to avoid his enemies and creditors, but also his constantly shifting political alliances and interests" (n.b., quote from Wiki). "Mr. Norris Changes Trains" would later be adapted to the theatre in 1951 under the title "I Am a Camera", which would itself be adapted in 1966 into the hugely successful musical "Cabaret".

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full canary yellow cloth over boards, red lettering stamped onto the spine, top edge stained red, publisher's device on the title page, stated fourth impression; duodecimo size (7 1/2" by 5 1/4"), pagination: [1-6] 7-280. The dust jacket shows the original price on the lower front flap of "7s.6d. Net", illustrated front panel, back panel, and all lettering are all in red.

___CONDITION: Near fine, with clean boards (other than a few miniscule specks at the bottom edge of the front board), perfectly straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean, and entirely free of prior owner markings; some offsetting to the endpapers from the dust jacket, and the war-time paper toned in sections, else fine. The unclipped dust jacket also near fine, with light overall soil, the spine has sunned, and extremely light edgewear. Overall a lovely example of this acclaimed novel.

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