15 vols., 8vo., First Edition, (for individual volume see below); cloth, gilt backs, a very good, bright, clean set in the dustwrapper (for individual dustwrapper see below). The series comprises: 'The Dark Lantern', 'Donkey Boy', Young Phillip Maddison', 'How Dear Is Life', A Fox Under My Cloak', 'The Golden Virgin', 'Love And The Loveless', 'A Test To Destruction', 'The Innocent Moon', 'It Was The Nightingale', 'The Power Of The Dead', 'The Phoenix Generation', 'A Solitary War', 'Lucifer Before Sunrise' and 'The Gale Of The World'. The first seven dustwrappers were designed and illustrated by Broom Lynne. Individual volumes as follows: The Dark Lantern (1951), inscription on front free endpaper, top mildly spotted, price-clipped dustwrapper lightly browned; Donkey Boy (1952), some very faint offsetting from fold-ins to free endpapers, unclipped dustwrapper lightly chafed without material loss at head and tail of backstrip and with one short closed tear; Young Phillip Maddison (1953), some very light offsetting from fold-ins to free endpapers, unclipped dustwrapper, very lightly sunned at backstrip, mildly spotted on (predominantly white) rear panel); How Dear Is Life (1954), mild offsetting from fold-ins to free endpapers, top dust-soiled, boards browned at extreme tops edges and head and tail of backstrip, unclipped dustwrapper, lightly chafed with very minor loss at head and tail of backstrip, lightly age-soiled; A Fox Under My Cloak (1955), mild offsetting from fold-ins to free endpapers, unclipped dustwrapper, very lightly sunned at backstrip, very lightly spotted on (predominantly white) rear panel; The Golden Virgin (1957), neat contemporary signature on front free endpaper, joints lightly rubbed, backstrip chafed at extreme head and tail, unclipped dustwrapper, very lightly browned at backstrip; Love And The Loveless (1958), backstrip lightly browned at extreme head and tail, unclipped dustwrapper, lightly sunned at backstrip, lightly browned on (predominantly white) rear panel; A Test To Destruction (1960), unclipped dustwrapper, moderately sunned at backstrip (red lettering just legible), mildly browned on front and rear panels; The Innocent Moon (1961), some light offsetting from fold-ins to free endpaper, top faintly spotted, unclipped dustwrapper, some light dust-soiling on (predominantly white) rear panel; It Was The Nightingale (1962), fore-edge lightly dust-soiled, unclipped dustwrapper, lightly sunned at backstrip, lightly browned on (predominantly white) rear panel; The Power Of The Dead (1963), unclipped dustwrapper, lightly chafed without material loss at head and tail of backstrip, lightly browned on (predominantly white) rear panel; The Phoenix Generation (1965), unclipped dustwrapper, browned at fold-ins, moderately browned at backstrip; A Solitary War (1966), unclipped dustwrapper, lightly browned on (predominantly white) rear panel; Lucifer Before Sunrise (1967), unclipped dustwrapper; The Gale of the World (1969), unclipped dustwrapper, lightly browned on (predominantly white ) rear panel. These individual descriptions are rigorous; the actual set is probably a good deal better than it sounds. Complete sets are scarce. Matthews A36 (set); A37, A38, A40, A41, A42, A43, A45, A48, A50, A51, A52, A53, A54, A55, A56 (individual volumes).
