Riotous Assembly

by Tom Sharpe 

First edition.  London:  Secker & Warburg, 1971   

Hardback is overall in VERY GOOD condition, with a VERY GOOD DJ under Mylar.

• Slate blue paper covers are mostly clean, with gilt title on spine.  Boards show bumping to head, some edgewear.  Corners are a little bumped.  See photos. 
• Spine has gilt text and is bright with bumped ends.
• Binding is strong. 
• End papers/ pastedowns show little sign of age or wear.
• Interior is gently age-toned, opening pages exhibit a little rippling.  Inside pages are free of writing and intentional marks.
• Text block edges are foxed. 
• Illustrated DJ looks nice behind Mylar and is backed with archival paper.
• Close examination of DJ reveals edgewear including possible bumps, rubbing, tiny closed tears, chipped corners, sunning of spine.  See photos.  
• PS2025.0814

249 pages. 5 x 7.75 inches

A Very Good first edition copy, in the original dust jacket, of this debut novel by English comic novelist Tom Sharpe (1928-2013).  Publisher's slate blue paper boards with gilt title on the spine.  A little edgewear and a sprinkling of foxing to the text block edges; the interior is unmarked.  Dust jacket, with price intact, is sunned along the spine.    

Tom Sharpe was a comic novelist in the tradition of Wodehouse and Waugh.  In its obituary, The Guardian said, "his bawdy style and vulgar approach were said to have made bad taste into an art form."  He did not start writing comic novels until 1971, with the publication of Riotous Assembly, but once he got going he gained a large readership.  He was a huge bestseller whose hardback editions sold like most authors only sell in paperback. 

A comic writer and a jovial character, Sharpe first came to attention as a hero in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa in 1960.  He had written many symbolic, and unproduced, plays in South Africa and he was, he said, as surprised as anyone when he wrote, in the space of a few weeks, the novel Riotous Assembly, a dazzling comic send-up of the South African police.  In a marvellous piece of irony, Sharpe dedicated the book to "the South African police force whose lives are dedicated to the preservation of western civilisation in southern Africa". (Guardian obituary) 

Jacket art by John Newberry.

First edition.  "11-5-71" in fine script penned in on copyright page.

Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

International first class shipping includes a handling charge to cover insurance.

Domestic orders over $250 include a handling charge to cover signature confirmation.

#panoplybooks #rarebooks #bookboutique #collectiblebooks #antiquebooks #vintagebooks #bookstore

We invite you to view our Shipping & Returns policies, or to contact us with any questions.