"IT IS COMIC; IT IS TRAGIC; IT IS ALL-ABSORBING": THE GOSHAWK, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY WHITE

WHITE, T.H. The Goshawk. London: Jonathan Cape, (1951). Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket. $950.

First edition of White's engrossing tale of his struggles to tame a hawk, inscribed and signed by White on the title page "for Elizabeth Alethea Harcourt."

"After reading a treatise on hawking, White decided to train a goshawk, applying a 17th-century method that required staying awake with the raptor for several days and nights in order to break its will. This is the story of a duel between the tamer and the bird and of a strange relationship in which the master, after using seduction, love and cruelty, is finally relieved when his enslaved companion flies away to freedom" (Gallix). White experiences with Gos (his hawk) occurred in 1936-37, and mentioned writing a book about training a goshawk during this time, but he made no move to have it published. In 1949, Wren Howard of Jonathan Cape visited White in Alderney and "found the neglected manuscript under a cushion" (Gallix). White agreed to publish the book, so long as his friend David Garnett advised him to do so. Gallix A16.

Very nearly fine condition—a lovely copy. Very scarce signed by White.