Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. Victor Gollancz Limited, London, 1938.
Price: US$5500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition, first printing. Signed by Daphne du Maurier on a Book Society bookplate with "Rebecca" printed above her name. Bound in publisher's original black cloth stamped in gilt; lacking the dust jacket. Near Fine with light lean to spine, light fading to spine cloth with dulling to gilt lettering there. Foxing mainly to textblock edge and pages toned. The first British edition of the author's best known work.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$5815.55 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: London: Victor Gollancz Limited, 1938, First Edition; First Impression, signed by the author to a letterhead. SIGNED "With best wishes, your sincerely, Daphne du Maurier" to Kilmath Par, Cornwall headed notepaper, inserted to a custom made compartment at the front of the volume. Recently rebound in a full leather binding with red leather onlay to the spine and front board. Internally tanned to the pages, creased to pages 145-160, closed tear to page 417, which has been reattached at some point with the gutter end of the text still legible. Red stained top edges as called for, bleeding on the top margin throughout - see photos. First edition of du Maurier's masterpiece which was later made into the Oscar-winning 1940 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A beautiful example. From the first chapter: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me". These famous opening lines later became one of the most famous opening words ever recorded in Alfred Hitchcock's Oscar-winning 1940 film of the same name. Rebecca is certainly Du Maurier's most famous novel and one that many others after her attempted to imitate, as a resurgence of romantic mystery novels came soon after its publication. The Mystery Writers of America have named Rebecca among the top ten Mystery Novels of All Time. 446pp. The classic gothic mystery which was the source for Hitchcock's haunting film. Approximately 8 inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine very good condition gilt titles to full morocco spine. Joints very good condition. Corners very good condition. Boards very good condition red leather onlay R to the front board, gilt titles. Page edges good condition tanned and foxed, black mark to base, stained red top edge by the publisher. See above and photos. Internally Hinges very good condition sound. Paste downs very good condition new, marbled paper, signed letterhead to the front. End papers good condition new, marbled paper, subsequent end papers foxed. Title good condition tanned. Pages good condition foxed throughout, with many corners historically folded over, red stain to top margin, creased to pages 145-160, closed tear and reattached page 417. Binding good condition sound, nice attractive. See photos. Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1938 Binding: Hardback
Seller: Louis88Books (Members of the PBFA), Andover, United Kingdom
Maurier, Daphne Du. Rebecca. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1938.
Price: US$16154.31 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo. Hardcover. Pp. 446. First edition, first printing. Includes original The Book Society bookplate, specifically created for this edition of 'Rebecca' and signed by the author, Daphe Du Maurier. There are very few available copies with the original bookplate, not to mention signed. Bound in publisher's original black cloth with the book's title stamped in gilt. With original dust-jacket, very rare. In very good condition, The dust-jacket shows very light signs of shelf-wear, with very slight tearing at the top of the spine, and very small markings on spine and back of cover. The spine, however, is noticeably faded. Light foxing inside but pages are unmarked, clean and uncreased, with tight binding. Rebecca is a 1938 Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier. The novel depicts an unnamed young woman who marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, the title character. Rebecca sold 2.8 million copies between its publication in 1938 and 1965. It has been adapted numerous times for stage and screen, including a 1939 play by du Maurier herself, and the film Rebecca (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The book looks like it was originally owned by Joan Henry, an English author and former débutante; she was jailed for passing a fraudulent cheque in 1951 and her best-known works were based on her experiences in prison, the semi-autobiographical Who Lie in Gaol. Bertrand Russell, who was very fond of her, was her mother's first cousin. Her unusual name and her future connections to the publisher Gollancz seem to prove that this was indeed her copy - however we should mention that we could not find any recorded sample of her handwriting which could help us make comparisons with the ownership signature on the bookplate.
Seller: Henry Pordes Books Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$40000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier Victor Gollancz, London. 1938 first UK edition first printing. Signed presentation inscription from the author to her governess "Tod, with love from Daphne. July 1938" to front free endpaper, light marginal toning and some foxing, upper hinge tinder, original cloth, slight shelf-lean, light fading to spine, spine with short split to head and fraying to foot, joints rubbed, dust-jacket, light fading to spine, spine ends and corners a little chipped, neatly repaired tear to head of upper panel, light creasing to head, extremities rubbed. A superb association copy inscribed from the author to her favourite governess in the month prior to publication. Signed copies of Rebecca are rare, we can only trace a handful at auction, we can find no like association copy. Maud Waddell worked as one of several governesses for the Du Maurier children and she is now regarded as having had an important formative influence on Daphne in particular. Waddell (or, "Tod" as she was nicknamed by the children after the Beatrix Potter character) was a strong, independently-minded woman who instilled in Du Maurier a passion for reading and encouraged her early writing. Writing in her memoirs, Du Maurier recounts some early influences from Waddell's recommendations: "Wilde filled my reading hours, but a more lasting impression was made by the stories of Katherine Mansfield, introduced to me by Tod who had a brother in New Zealand, and I felt instinctively that if I could only one day in the distant future write some sketch that might compare, however humbly, to hers, I need not despair." . Waddell later became a close friend and confidant, and would even serve as governess for Du Maurier's own children many years later. - Du Maurier, Myself When Young: The Shaping of a Writer, 1977. This is the must have book for serious collectors.
Seller: Neverland Books, waalre, Netherlands