"BETTER LOOK OUT, ROSIE, OLD GIRL. IT'LL BE RAPIDS NEXT!": FIRST EDITION OF FORESTER'S AFRICAN QUEEN

FORESTER, C.S. The African Queen. London: William Heinemann, 1935. Octavo, original brown cloth. $1500.

First edition of Forester's beloved African adventure, basis for John Huston's 1951 Oscar-winning film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.

"I recommend Forester to every literate I know," Hemingway once said. Born Cecil Smith in Egypt, C.S. Forester grew up in England to become one of its most popular authors with his adventures of Horatio Hornblower and, in The African Queen, an unlikely romance between a Cockney boat pilot and a headstrong missionary that produced one of Hollywood's most legendary films, starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in his only Oscar-winning role. "The cornerstone item in any serious Forester collection" (Smiley, 39). The first American edition, released the same year, had a completely different ending. Without original dust jacket. Wilden 22a. Smiley, 39.

Front inner paper hinge split, slight soiling to cloth, tiny split to rear joint, small closed tears to spine ends. A near-fine copy.