"AN ELEGANT MODERN VERSION OF AN ANCIENT MYTH": FIRST EDITION OF THE FISHER KING, SIGNED BY ANTHONY POWELL WITH FOUR AUTOGRAPH TEXT CORRECTIONS

POWELL, Anthony. The Fisher King. London: Heinemann, (1986). Octavo, original blue paper boards, original dust jacket. $2500.

First edition of Powell's skillful modern interpretation of an Arthurian character, signed on the title page by him and with four autograph text corrections.

Drawing from Arthurian legend in which the Fisher King is a maimed and sexually damaged ruler of a barren country, Anthony Powell develops his modern interpretation on a cruise ship and transfers the Fisher King's more memorable traits onto the character of crippled war hero and photographer Saul Henchman. With his characteristic humanity and refinement, Powell exposes the contradiction and even comedy underpinning the Arthurian myth. "An elegant modern version of an ancient myth" (The Guardian). This copy is signed by Powell and also features four text corrections as follows: p. 45, l. 8, a strike through the "t" in "not" and the marginal notation "w/"; p. 103, l. 19, "must have been" crossed out, with the insertion "later proved it"; p. 176, l. 22, the "ly" in "butly" crossed out, with the insertion "by"; and p. 208, l. 18, correction to "Weber" with notation "N/ Webern/."

A fine signed copy, rare with autograph corrections.