BOOK THOUGHTS
Graham Greene Jewel
What a gem!
This little beauty is the jewel in the crown of my Graham Greene collection. See the little video reel I posted on Instagram walking through this adorable little book.
A Weed Among the Flowers is an essay Greene wrote about a trip he made in 1957 to China. The essay was first published in The Times, London, in 1985. Sylvester & Orphanos, a tiny fine press in Los Angeles, worked with Greene to publish this miniature edition in 1990, with an afterword written by English poet Stephen Spender and illustrations by Vance Gerry. It is signed by Greene and Spender.
This little book is something of a publishing mystery. It is the second Greene book Sylvester & Orphanos published. In 1980, they published How Father Quixote Became a Monsignor, a limited edition novella that was a precursor to his novel 1982 novel Monsignor Quixote. That book was regular-sized and conventionally bound, not a little bon bon like this one.
When Sylvester & Orphanos produced A Weed Among the Flowers, they intended a limited run of 330 copies – 300 numbered, 26 lettered, and four with recipient names. However, it was the last book they published (there was another in production that was later published by a different art press) and rumor has it that far fewer were actually bound because of “material shortages.” That may explain why there are so few available and, like mine, copies are often missing their number (handwritten in in other copies) and do not have the decorative label on the cover of the book and spine of the box.
There is one notable errata. In the first paragraph of Greene’s essay, he refers to his monthlong visit to China in 1957, but Stephen Spender’s Afterword says the trip occurred in 1951.
The essay itself is a comic piece, focusing on Greene’s complaints about his traveling companions and over-consumption of the local liquor. It’s a charming bit of travelogue fluff.
As a historical footnote, Greene donated the manuscript of the essay to the Robert Louis Stevenson Trust to help fund a memorial to Stevenson, an author Greene admired and to whom he was distantly related on his mother’s side.
This little book is something of a publishing mystery. It is the second Greene book Sylvester & Orphanos published. In 1980, they published How Father Quixote Became a Monsignor, a limited edition novella that was a precursor to his novel 1982 novel Monsignor Quixote. That book was regular-sized and conventionally bound, not a little bon bon like this one.
When Sylvester & Orphanos produced A Weed Among the Flowers, they intended a limited run of 330 copies – 300 numbered, 26 lettered, and four with recipient names. However, it was the last book they published (there was another in production that was later published by a different art press) and rumor has it that far fewer were actually bound because of “material shortages.” That may explain why there are so few available and, like mine, copies are often missing their number (handwritten in in other copies) and do not have the decorative label on the cover of the book and spine of the box.
There is one notable errata. In the first paragraph of Greene’s essay, he refers to his monthlong visit to China in 1957, but Stephen Spender’s Afterword says the trip occurred in 1951.
The essay itself is a comic piece, focusing on Greene’s complaints about his traveling companions and over-consumption of the local liquor. It’s a charming bit of travelogue fluff.
As a historical footnote, Greene donated the manuscript of the essay to the Robert Louis Stevenson Trust to help fund a memorial to Stevenson, an author Greene admired and to whom he was distantly related on his mother’s side.
Love all the interesting background! Thank you!
ReplyDelete