IAIN SINCLAIR (b.1943) - photo 1
IAIN SINCLAIR (b.1943) - photo 2
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IAIN SINCLAIR (b.1943)

Lot 81
12.07.2022 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 1 638
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 794344
Lot 81 | IAIN SINCLAIR (b.1943)
Estimate value
£ 1 000 – 1 500
IAIN SINCLAIR (b.1943)
Downriver. London: Paladin Grafton Books, 1991.
First edition of one of Sinclair’s first psychogeographical works, extensively annotated and extra-illustrated by the author, with over 1450 words appearing on 69 pages, and with 22 photographs and photocopies inserted into the book. Downriver represents Sinclair’s move away from poetry into psychogeography, and his exploration of London’s urban environment in relation to both its natural spaces (Victoria Park, River Thames, etc.) and the intersection of literary and cultural themes, politics and travel routes. Rooted in a real physical geography (Tilbury, Whitechapel, Isle of Dogs, etc.), Downriver is split into 12 episodes, each offering a critique of a United Kingdom imagined to be under the rule of the Widow, a caricature of Margaret Thatcher. The endpapers show 12 numbered postcards that link to the episodes, with the author’s annotations to the front endpapers acknowledging the support of Angela Carter and her identification of these postcards as ‘the key to the “Downriver” project’. An inserted portrait caricature of T.S. Eliot on p.58 captioned by Sinclair, ‘Glancingly name checked, ever present’, links the work to The Wasteland, while the part-title ‘7 Prima Donna (The Cleansing of Angels)’ is annotated ‘Close to the impulse that triggered this book. As an antidote to “White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings.”’ This was the novel published by Sinclair in 1987, and along with Downriver and his later Radon Daughters (1994), form a loose-knit trilogy. Downriver was critically acclaimed, winning the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 1992 Encore Award.

Octavo. 1463 words in author’s hand across 69 pages, a further 7 pages with authorial ink underlining, these in black, blue, red and purple ink, 22 photographs and photocopies pasted in, one of which folding, postcard-sized prospectus for Sinclair's Buried at Sea loosely inserted. Original blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine, pictorial dustjacket (one tiny insignificant abrasion to fore-edge of front flap of jacket).
Place of origin:United Kingdom
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.06.2022 – 12.07.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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