Published by Hamish Hamilton, London; 1986. 186pp. 8vo. First UK edition, first impression. Condition: Near Fine/Near Fine.
Bound in original black cloth boards with title in gilt to the spine. The binding is square and tight and in excellent condition, with no signs of damage or marks. Inside, there is some toning to the pages, but they are otherwise clean and bright, free from blemishes or wear.
The book is housed in its equally smart, first issue dust jacket. It is in lovely condition, with no marking or damage to speak of. The price has been clipped, but this is the only point to note.
In all, this is an exceptional example of the scarce UK first edition of one of the best-selling German novels of the 20th century. It was published one year after the German first edition, translated to English by John E. Woods. It is particularly hard to come by in as smart condition as this. It tells the tale of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, whose brutal birth signals the beginning of one of the strangest lives ever imagined, and a career of very violent genius. After his mother is executed for murder, he grows up isolated and rejected by everyone in an orphanage, aware of two things. One is that he is blessed with an extraordinarily sharp sense of smell. The other - the cause for his rejection - is that he has no smell of his own. He becomes obsessed by smell, and the mayhem he causes. Part fable, part surreal fantasy, part novel of suspense, this novel is the work of a brilliant talent. The originality of the story, the dynamo of the writing, the supremely sensual grasp of one man's secret world, make it a novel worthy of comparison with the great European masters (blurb).