The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. London: Victor Gollancz, 1963.

JOHN LE CARRÉ (1931-2020)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. London: Victor Gollancz, 1963.
First edition, part-annotated with the author’s unfinished final reflections on his best-known work. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was the first to win both the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger and the Mystery Writers of America award, and it remains one of the most celebrated spy novels ever published. Upon Le Carré’s death in December 2020, he had annotated the opening 45 pages only in preparation for the present auction – his placeholder, a small blank slip of paper, remains loosely inserted between pages 48 and 49. His many notes and underlinings, all in black ink, are characteristically captivating. He writes of his experiences in MI5 (‘Many agents lie about their personal lives for fear of losing their salaries. They also babble to their mistress, or the stranger on a train’), and how his story is sometimes furnished with the vicarious experiences of others, such as his father’s spell in prison. He highlights passages that please him and those that he would prefer to omit (‘I wish I hadn’t written that!’), and offers his views on the film adaptation of 1965. The most desirable first edition to have appeared at auction.

Octavo. Original variant binding of brown cloth, title gilt on spine (faint marks to lower cover), red and white dust-jacket with price of 18/- (light wear at corners, minor dust-soiling, small stain and toning to rear panel, small tear at the foot of dust-jacket spine).

Buyer’s premium is payable, with a significant portion donated by Christie’s to English PEN, but note that no VAT is payable on hammer price or buyer’s premium.
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