THE UNCELESTIAL CITY.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1930. First Edition, First Impression. Hardcover. Octavo, original brown cloth, paper title label on spine. 262 pp. Inscribed by Wolfe to his friend, the author Richard Church, on the front free endpaper: "To Richard, in friendship & Admiration, Humber Wolfe May 5 / 30". Endpapers foxed; a very good clean copy, lacking the dust jacket. Very Good. Item #311317
¶ Humbert Wolfe (1885-1940) was one of the most popular British authors of the 1920s, but is basically unknown, unread, uncollected and undesiredtoday. A pity - he was a bit of a wit, and his writing is quite fun. As David Lagford points out "Being forgotten is a common novelistic fate. Humbert Wolfe's afterlife fantasy "The Uncelestial City" has sunk so far into oblivion that no one remembers it's a fantasy".
However lost or obscure the book is, we do have this nicely inscribed copy for sale, and it does offer us this lovely little epigram - famous in its way, and often quoted, mis-quoted, mis-attributed and/or just plan missed:
You cannot hope
to bribe or twist,
thank God! the
British journalist.
But, seeing what
the man will do
unbribed, there's
no occasion to.
Price: $65.00