THE SPANISH VIRGIN

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, in the Mary Adshead illustrated dustwrapper. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth and gilt fresh with minor pushing and rubbing to spine tips. The contents, with faint staining to the edges of the front and rear endpapers and a very light splash stain to the fore-edge of the page block are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the lightly rubbed and stained dustwrapper, that is a little chipped to the upper edge of the lightly toned spine. Altogether, an attractive example of the scarce first impression.

Pritchett's third book (and his first of shorter fiction) is made up of the titular novella "which presents in a series of rapid episodes the reactions of a mother and her daughter to sudden poverty; and ten shorter stories, all caustic and vivid in their comedy, their tragedy and their fantasy" (from the jacket).