Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Chatwin, Bruce. On the Black Hill (signed copy). Jonathan Cape, London, 1982.
Price: US$250.82 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1982. First impression. 249pp. Flatsigned "Bruce Chatwin" on the title page with no dedication or other inscriptions. Unclipped dust jacket (design by Mon Mohan) in very good condition with just slight sunning to the spine. Slight bumping to the top of the spine and fore edge of the book. Top edge slightly dusty and with a minor stain. The dust jacket is in an easily removed clear plastic protective cover. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the value of the book we will only send recorded delivery so we may ask for a little extra for shipping.
Seller: Edinburgh Books, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
CHATWIN, Bruce (1940-1989). On the Black Hill [Signed]. Jonathan Cape, London, 1982.
Price: US$349.00 + shipping
Description: First Impression. 8vo: 248,[2]pp. Publisher's slate grey cloth, spine stamped in gilt, wraparound pictorial dust jacket, by Mon Mohan, unclipped and unpriced (one of the export copies Jonathan Cape issued; priced copies include the exception, "UK only"). Signed by Chatwin (without dedication) on title page. Presented the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 1982 and the Whitbread First Novel of the Year Award (there is debate as to whether Chatwin's The Viceroy of Ouidah, a fictionalized account of an actual eighteenth-century Brazilian slave trader, published two year before On the Black Hill, should be considered fiction or nonfiction). Near Fine or better (spine tips bumped, stray spot or two to top and fore-edges, short, thin ink line to bottom edge of front cover); About Fine jacket (lightly nicked to one flap fold). Chatwin's first novel (and third book), "written in the tradition of Thomas Hardy and D. H. Lawrence, revives the almost forgotten genre of the pastoral [as it] follows the lives of identical twins [Benjamin and Lewis Jones] whose experience provides a miniature-like perspective on twentieth-century history far from the madding crowd, wars, and disasters. . . . A stage version by Charles Way was first performed in 1986, and in 1987 director Andrew Grieve turned the taciturn pastoral into a successful film version with two Welsh actors, Mike and Robert Gwilym, as Lewis and Benjamin Jones, and hundreds of Radnorshire residents participating as extras." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Seller: Fine Editions Ltd, Lancaster, PA, U.S.A.
Chatwin, Bruce. On the Black Hill. London; Jonathan Cape;, 1982.
Price: US$450.20 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing. Signed by the author to the title page. Near fine in fine dustjacket with £7.50 price shown (many dustjackets do not have a printed price).
Seller: timkcbooks (Member of Booksellers Association), Penzance, United Kingdom
BRUCE CHATWIN.. On the Black Hill. A novel. (INSCRIBED). Jonathan Cape, London, 1982.
Price: US$450.20 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition (first printing) - this copy inscribed by the author on the title page: "For John with best wishes Bruce 9 Nov 83" and with a former owner name (John Cupper, presumably the recipient of Chatwin's inscription) inked to the head of the front free endpaper. 8vo. 248pp. Grey boards lettered in gold at the spine. A tiny sliver of discolouration to the board edges, else a fine copy in fine non-price-clipped dust wrapper. Chatwin's third book, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and, bafflingly, the Whitbread First Novel Award (the judges were presumably unaware of his novel 'The Viceroy of Ouidah' which was published two years previously). Really quite uncommon with the author's signature.
Seller: Clearwater Books, London, United Kingdom
CHATWIN BRUCE. ON THE BLACK HILL. Cape, London, 1982.
Price: US$1093.34 + shipping
Description: First UK Edition. Original grey boards with gilt titles to the spine. A near fine copy with no inscriptions in like un-clipped D/W. This copy benefits from the signature of Chatwin (without dedication) to the title page. Signed copies are extremely rare
Seller: James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA., LEICESTER, United Kingdom
CHATWIN, Bruce.. On the Black Hill.. London: Jonathan Cape, 1982, 1982.
Price: US$1254.12 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, presentation copy to Penelope Betjeman, the wife of the poet John Betjeman, inscribed by the author on the title page "For Penelope As always with my fondest love Bruce Sept '82". Chatwin was friends with Penelope for many years and the pair travelled together. After the breakdown of his marriage, Chatwin frequently visited her cottage above Hay-on-Wye, Penelope telling him that the stories there "are just as good as all those things in Patagonia you write about"; he stated in turn that she became "a sort of mother to me" (Nicholas Shakespeare, Bruce Chatwin, p. 377). His stays with her in the area no doubt shaped On the Black Hill, his first novel, set in a rural farm on the Welsh border. Penelope is the inspiration for the character Philippa in the story (ibid.). Octavo. Original grey cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Slight lean to spine, spotting to edges and toning around peripheries; a very good copy in like jacket, lightly toned, minor rubbing.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
CHATWIN, Bruce.. On the Black Hill.. London Jonathan Cape, 1982.
Price: US$2722.50 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author; 8vo; publisher's blue-grey boards, titles to spine gilt, with the dust jacket. A very nice copy in the dust jacket with some mild browning to the verso. A superb association copy with the author's signed presentation inscription to the title page, 'For Tom As always, YOUR book with all my gratitude Bruce 10 Sept 82'. The recipient (whose bookplate is attached to the front pastedown) was Tom Maschler, Chatwin's editor at Cape. A marvellous association copy and in Chatwin's case this is something of a rarity.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom