GRAHAM GREENE'S GREATEST WORK, THE POWER AND THE GLORY, INSCRIBED BY HIM TO FILM AND THEATER CRITIC CLIVE HIRSCHHORN, KNOWN FOR HIS ACCLAIMED COLLECTION OF MODERN FIRST EDITIONS

GREENE, Graham. The Power and the Glory. London and Toronto: William Heinemann, (1940). Octavo, original yellow cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition of Greene's masterpiece, inscribed on the title page to respected journalist and film and theater critic Clive Hirschhorn, wildly known for his massive collection of modern first editions: "For Clive from Graham Greene," in scarce original dust jacket.

"This novel about a haunted, driven, desperate priest is probably Greene's greatest… His greatest novel, however, had to wait ten years for success … Greene really had little chance, bringing out his greatest book in the middle of [World War II]… Unless books either allowed the general reader to escape from war… or provided information about war or spies, the chances of their becoming bestsellers were remote" (Sherry II:39-40). The book did, however, win the 1940 Hawthornden Prize, and proved popular enough in France to earn it the attention of and two condemnations from Roman Catholic bishops. In 1953, furthermore, the Church demanded changes to the text—changes Greene, while troubled by the ecclesiastical rebuke, did not make. "Later, when Greene had an interview with Pope Paul VI, the Pope told Greene that among the novels of his he had read was The Power and the Glory. Greene responded that it had been condemned by the Holy Office… [The Pope replied,] 'Mr. Greene, some parts of your books are certain to offend some Catholics, but you should pay no attention to that" (Sherry II:43). Emerging from five weeks spent in Mexico in 1938 to report on religious persecution, Greene's remarkable novel evokes "the territory that Greene knew best"—"the agonizing confusion of life in the twilight region between salvation and damnation" (Shelden, 224). "The Power and the Glory suggests a kind of sanctity still achievable in a mundane world" (Stringer, 544). Contrary to Greene's claim of only 3500 copies, according to his biographer Norman Sherry, "the print run was in fact 12,600." Miller 20a. This copy is inscribed to Clive Hirschhorn, a prominent British film and theater critic. Hirschhorn worked as theatre critic of the Sunday Express for more than 30 years. He is currently theatre critic of This Is London magazine. Hirschhorn is also the author of a number of books on film including The Warner Brothers Story, The Hollywood Musical, The Columbia Story, and a biography of Gene Kelly. Hirschhorn once said, "The condition of the dust jacket is everything. So I kept them on shelves in my bedroom well out of the sunlight. I never read any of the first editions. If I wanted to, I would buy a paperback. Any mark or tear would take hundreds or thousands off the value" (Express). Hirschhorn was also a devoted fan of Graham Greene. He had 28 books by Greene in his collection and a copy of Dracula inscribed by him.

Book with scattered foxing to text, toning to endpapers; rare dust jacket bright, with some expert restoration.