Horse Under Water. Secret File No.2

by DEIGHTON, Len (born 1929)

$262 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

London: Jonathan Cape, 1963. [Cold War spy thriller] UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.255; [1]. Publisher's lime green softcovers with 'greek urn' device repeated in white, titles printed in black, with PROOF-ONLY dust-wrapper designed by Raymond Hawkey. The jacket is considerably different to the published version; the photograph of the Royal Navy frogmen was later omitted and the still-life artwork was much simplified for publication, with several shells and Nazi insignia removed, resulting in a less cluttered image. A fine copy of the book in a near fine jacket, slight toned to extremities and with oversized portion a little trimmed and creased. The author's second novel, being the first of his many books for publisher Jonathan Cape. Deighton's [Harry Palmer] spy series was considered by many as the perfect antidote to Ian Fleming's James Bond. Spy writers Fleming and Graham Greene are mentioned on the flyleaf blurb. This copy is from the comprehensive James Bond collection assembled by bibliographer Jon Gilbert, with his pencilled ownership. Milward-Oliver; Len Deighton Annotated Bibliography p.28. See also Gilbert.

• Publisher: London: Jonathan Cape, 1963
• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: unknown

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