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MARNHAM**, PATRICK: : Wild Mary: The Life of Mary Wesley.** [Author SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.CHATTO & WINDUS,2006.

ISBN 0701179910.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn,3rd imp. [Complete number line 3-10.] FINE+/FINE+. No owner inscrptn,but author's handwritten, neat,black ink signature - without dedication,and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,subject b/w contemporary autobiographical photographic illustrated dw/dj,with glossy pink,pale blue and b/w lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present. A b/w circular,adhesive 'Waterstone's SIGNED by the Author' label towards foot of upper panel of dw/dj.Top+fore-edges though lightly aged/toned are generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean - near pristine - 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 grey cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain black endpapers.UK,8vo HB +dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn,3rd imp,2- 289pp [paginated] includes author's introduction,Pts 1-4 (covering period 1912-2002) comprising 17 chapters and an epilogue,24pp b/w contemporary, autobiographical photographs in 3 blocks or 8pp apiece,between pp86/7,pp134/5 and pp198/9 respectively,survivors and others, author's note,acknowledgements,source notes and an index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title, author SIGNED title page,separate contents and illustrations lists/tables,prose extract (Diana Petre,'The Secret Orchard of Roger Ackerley.') and 4pp blanks at rear. See also my book ID rja964021 for an unsigned copy of this title. Wesley was a pen name,derived from the family name of Wellesley.She was born Mary Farmar,related to the Duke of Wellington, and grew up a rebel who believed that she was her mother's least favourite child.Like many girls of her background,she married for escape.She herself summarised the pre-War years as: 'God! When I think of the time I've wasted going to bed with old Etonians.' Her first marriage (to Lord Swinfen) was brief and conventional.In the late 1930's,she began a fascination with Heinz Ziegler,a Czech university professor and wartime air gunner; his brother,Paul, later a Benedictine monk,also fell under her spell.In 1944,she met her adored second husband,Eric Siepmann,a writer who never managed to make any money at all from writing.Their marriage,which was mercurial and bohemian,lasted until his death.In her later years she enjoyed a relationship with playwright Robert Bolt. At the outbreak of WW2 she was,as she put it,'roped into Intellignce',where she worked on breaking codes.MI5 and her rackety life during the Blitz eventually inspired her novels,many of which were concerned with multiple wartime love affairs. She wrote about the atmosphere of the home front and how the imminence of death loosened inhibitions - her fiction was as sexy and as candid as she was herself.She drew on her eccentric friends and her love of Cornwall and the West Country,while the darkness in her novels was illuminated by a caustic sense of the ridiculous.Her style has been described as arsenic without the old lace. 'Wild Mary' is a remarkable book about a woman who was courageous,sensual,talented and ruthless. Readers will enjoy her story not only for its witty anecdotes and devastating one-liners,but also for the intimate portrait it builds of a multi-layered personality in which much was hidden.Mary Wesley talked freely to the author - yet took some of her secrets to the grave,leaving behind a number of fascinating clues.Mary Wesley died 2002. Please contact seller,because of the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** This item offered P+p included.Offer available UK only,unless indicated otherwise. ** ** 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 customers please be aware: US Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to USA 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.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn,3rd imp.
Author SIGNED - without dedication.

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