[DI LAMPEDUSA, GIUSEPPE]. The Leopard. London: Collins and Harvill Press, 1960.
FIRST UK EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION; cloth-bound, hardcover with dust jacket, octavo (22cm x 14.5cm x 3cm), pp. 255. English text, translated from the Italian by Archibald Colquhoun. Bound in publisher's original green cloth with gilt spine titles, supplied in the original dust jacket, initial and terminal blanks plus half-title present. Condition: GOOD to VERY GOOD. Binding tight, secure and square. Covers clean. Interior with just a few small spots. Dust jacket complete with slight shelf wear and spine fading. Without previous ownership markings.
Notes: True first British printing of this classic work, translated from the original Italian by Archibald Colquhoun. Supplied with the original dust jacket, designed by Hans Tisdall; the front inner flap of jacket marked as 'Book Society Choice'. The author of this book was a Sicilian nobleman with the resonant name and titles of Giuseppe Tomasi, Duke of Palma, and Prince of Lampedusa. He lived the life of a man of culture, a literary dilettante. He spent 25 years in contemplation of the book, only to write it in a few short months prior to his death.
