Gentleman Harry Retires

(no dust jacket) [moderate shelfwear, spine slightly turned, tiny rip in cloth at top of spine, some dust-soiling to top edge]. Historical novel derived from the exploits of an 18th-century English highwayman, Henry Simms. The author, for reasons that are not quite clear (angling for a sale of the movie rights), addresses the book's 4-page Dedication to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., citing the actor's "admiration for the heroic deeds of great men in the past," and at the same time begging his forgiveness "for placing your name before the fictional history of a notorious blackguard." The author acknowledges his heavy debt to Hogarth for innumerable period details, as well as to the "Newgate Calendar" and Simms's own autobiography, "a thin book so disregarded that it has to be held together with string, can be read in the British Museum Reading Room where I chanced upon it." (For the record, it would appear that the author's shameless ploy was a complete failure, since the saga of Simms did not inspire Doug Jr. -- or anybody else -- to commit it to film.)

Product Info

Publisher: Ivor Nicholson & Watson

Year: 1937

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

First Edition

Seller Info

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Country: United States