Good-bye to All That

Robert GRAVES

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Good-bye to All That

"I SHALL HAVE PARTED WITH MYSELF FOR GOOD": ROBERT GRAVES' GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT, FIRST ISSUE

GRAVES, Robert. Good-bye to All That. London: Jonathan Cape, (1929). Octavo, original salmon cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition, first issue, of Graves' memoir of his life until age 34, with photographic illustrations and maps.

While Graves is known "mainly as a writer of historical novels… His wider fame was first established… by the autobiography Good-bye to All That in 1929. This admirable book… stands in a perceptible relationship to the Claudius novels. The 'I' in each case is very much the product of the surrounding civilization, even while evaluating and indeed rejecting it" (DNB). Graves recounts his life and experiences during World War I with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and his friendship with such literary figures as T.E. Lawrence, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen. First issue, with Sassoon poem, which was excised and replaced with cancels in many copies, and edited out in later issues. The poem was originally written as part of a letter to Graves, and was included in this book without Sassoon's permission. Upon publication, Sassoon was horrified and demanded it be excised. It was, but their friendship was destroyed.

Book near-fine, with foxing to endpapers and edges of text block, cloth with only slightest soiling and mild toning to spine. Dust jacket extremely good, with a few faint stains, light wear and toning to extremities, and minor tears with loss to rear flap and rear panel.

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