DUNANT, Sarah.

THE BIRTH OF VENUS [with] IN THE COMPANY OF THE COURTESAN [with] SACRED HEARTS [with] BLOOD & BEAUTY. Together, Four Volumes, each one an Inscribed Presentation copy from the Author to her Very Close Friends.

Various Places: Various Publishers, 2003 - 2013. First Editions. A group of four volumes, each with a long, personal inscription by the author on the title leaf. 1) THE BIRTH OF VENUS. Love and Death in Florence. London: Little, Brown. [2003]. First Edition, 1st printing. Original boards in dust jacket. 412 pp. Inscribed by the author on the title leaf: "To Richard & Serena, There are no words - or none that I can find - to tell you what wonderful friends you are & how lucky I am to have found you. With much much love Sarah X". Jacket sun-faded on spine, a bit worn; Very good in jacket. 2) IN THE COMPANY OF THE COURTESAN. London: Little, Brown. [2006]. First Edition, 1st printing. Original boards in dust jacket, panoramic endpapers. 412 pp. Inscribed by the author on the title page: "To Richard & Serena, What would my life have been like if we hadn't met twenty six!!! years ago.... I love you both. Sarah X". Small split to front hinge, slightly cocked, a very good copy in dust jacket. 3). SACRED HEARTS. London: Virago [2009]. First Edition, 1st printing. Octavo, original boards, pictorial endpapers. 471 pp. Inscribed by the author on the half-title leaf: "For Richard & Serena, You are two of the most important people in my life & have brought joy & sunshine for very nearly (!) 30 years. With enormous amounts of love Sarah x". Loosely laid in is a small handbill for a Reading by Sarah Dunant of this title, August 14th, - at the Cardboard House Bakery, Hornby Island. Very good in dust jacket. 4). BLOOD & BEAUTY. The Borgias. A Novel. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. First Canadian Edition, 1st printing. Octavo, original two-tone boards, light blue endpapers. 506 pp. Inscribed by the author on the title page: "To Serena & Richard, who have seen me through all these books! Thank you for such a wonderful friendship... Love, Sarah X". Very good in dust jacket. Also included is a copy of the paperback original novel EXTERMINATING ANGELS by "Peter Dunant" (pen name for Peter Busby and Sarah Dunant), Pluto Press, London, 1986. A near fine copy of Sarah Dunant's first book, not inscribed. Item #314572

¶ THE BIRTH OF VENUS, COURTESAN and SACRED HEARTS are a trilogy (of sorts)v of novels about women's lives in the Italian Renaissance. BLOOD & BEAUTY carries on the Renaissance theme with a novel of The Borgias. Richard & Serena Laskin, sociologists who had been associated with the University of Chicago and then the University of Saskatchewan, moved to Hornby island BC in the early 1970's as part of the "back-to-the-land" movement and were co-founders of the co-operative community SYZYGY.

Price (CAD): $375.00