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The Quiet American

Lot 74
28.09.2023 13:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 11 340
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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Archive
ID 1016425
Lot 74 | The Quiet American
Estimate value
£ 4 000 – 6 000
The Quiet American

Graham Greene

GREENE, Graham (1904-1991). The Quiet American. London: William Heinemann, 1955.



First edition, first impression, of Greene’s depiction of the breakdown of French colonialism in Indo-China and early American involvement in the Vietnam War, with an exceptional authorial presentation inscription: ‘For R.A. Addyes-Scott from Graham Greene. In 1951 I went “accidentally” to Indo-China, but this book only began to take shape after a second – or third – visit.’ Although Greene officially resigned from the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, i.e. MI6) in May 1944, he retained links to the ‘old firm’ until the 1980s, passing on information that he thought of interest acquired during his many foreign travels. While travelling through Vietnam, Greene met his old friend Trevor Wilson, whom he had first met in SIS Section V in London in 1943, and there seems little reason to doubt that information was gathered and shared – certainly French intelligence questioned Greene’s motives for his visit to Vietnam. Not much is known about the recipient, but Reginald A. Addyes-Scott (1891-c.1974) maintained correspondence with other 20th-century writers, such as Siegfried Sassoon and John Cowper Powys (both archives at Harry Ransom Center), and Walter de la Mare (Syracuse); Addyes-Scott’s portrait was painted by Sir William Orpen in 1923 (sold Sotheby’s 16 May 2002, The Irish Sale, lot 176). A fine copy in its original jacket with wrap-around-band. Wobbe A35a.



Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, publisher’s logo stamped in blind on lower cover, top edge blue (lower corners faintly bumped); original pictorial dust-jacket (spine faintly and insignificantly browned, a few tiny insignificant creases at edges); contained in a red morocco-backed cloth box (spine sunned). Provenance: authorial presentation inscription on front free endpaper, to: – R[eginald] A. Addyes-Scott.

Place of origin:Northern Europe, Europe, United Kingdom
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.09.2023 – 28.09.2023
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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