Sleeveless Errand: A Novel
Book Description
First Paris Edition (in English). Large 8vo, pp. [218], [2]. Quarter cream linen lettered in black over patterned paper boards. Corners bruised and worn, edgewear, esp. to bottom edges. Boards toned. Occasional foxing, faint bookseller’s stamp to rear pastedown, a bit shaken. Else, clean.
Dealer Notes
With a scathing Preface by Edward Garnett, directed at British censorship laws. Like Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, Sleeveless Errand fell foul of the Obscene Publications Act 1857. Following the seizure and destruction of the London edition, primarily for its ‘Bloody Hells,’ Jack Kahane acted quickly to reissue the book in Paris; Kahane would set up the Obelisk Press. Fortunately, Norah James was not deterred by the ‘moral righteousness and official Pecksniffery’ of the British Home Office (in Garnett’s words) and went on to author over 60 books. Known as Jimmy to her friends, in later life Jones lived with her partner Barbara Beauchamp.
Author
JAMES, Norah C.
Date
1929
Publisher
Paris: Henry Babou and Jack Kahane
Condition
Good+
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