Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid.An exceptional near-fine copy in scarce unrestored dust jacket. Text fine, very lightest rubbing to silver-stamped boards light edge-wear, mild toning to spine with shallow chipping to spine ends, minor tape reinforcement to verso of bright dust jacket.

Greene co-authored the screenplay for the 1947 Boulting Brothers film starring Richard Attenborough as Pinkie-“the original sawdust Caesar, just as he is the slick-haired ted with a razor blade, Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971)… It’s hard to locate a real tradition of homegrown film noir but Brighton Rock comes close to it” ( Guardian). First edition, appearing one month before the English edition: with “Published in June 1938” on the copyright page. Greene later noted that “ Brighton Rock… is one of the best I ever wrote” ( Ways of Escape). “ Brighton Rock is an audacious book… It is a world of razors, bullies, poverty, false sentiments, torture and death” (Shelden, 203). Greene finished the novel in January 1938 and in May “worked on proofs of the American edition” (Sherry II:3). Faustus.” Greene’s questioning of good and evil makes this “his first Catholic novel, his first enquiry into the ways of man and God… It was to lead on to Power and the Glory and End of the Affair ” (Sherry I:637-649). “There is a battle for Pinkie’s soul between the powers of Good and Evil, as there was in the case of Marlowe’s Dr.

“West’s description of herself as ‘a girl who lost her reputation but never missed it’ could be said of Ida.” Yet Brighton Rock achieves a resonance that reaches beyond a tale of gang warfare or popular thrills. Although Greene claimed that his unforgettable characters had no living models, it has been suggested that barmaid Ida Arnold was inspired by Mae West, whose films had been reviewed by Greene. Housed in a custom slipcase.įirst edition of Greene’s electrifying noir novel-“his first enquiry into the ways of man and God”- this American edition preceding the English edition by one month, adapted to the screen in 1947 with Greene’s co-authored screenplay and Richard Attenborough as the sadistic killer Pinkie, “the original sawdust Caesar,” in scarce unrestored dust jacket.įollowing the success of A Gun for Sale (1936), Graham Greene drew upon news stories for this noir novel about a gang led by the sadistic killer Pinkie Brown. Octavo, original silver-stamped black and rose boards, original dust jacket.

“ONE OF THE BEST I EVER WROTE” (GRAHAM GREENE): SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF BRIGHTON ROCK, IN SCARCE DUST JACKET

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene