le Carré, John (1974-79) ‘The Karla Trilogy’: ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’; ‘The Honourable Schoolboy’; ‘Smiley’s People’, all UK signed and inscribed first editions

John le Carré aka David Cornwell (1974-79) ‘The Karla Trilogy‘, all UK first editions, first printings, published by Hodder and Stoughton. All are signed and inscribed by the author on the respective title pages. The set consists of:

1) ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy‘; signed and inscribed: “For Leon | from John le Carré | 24 ii ’99 | Leeds”. In fine condition with just the top edge slightly faded. No previous owner’s scribbles of any sorts and clean throughout. The dust jacket is NOT faded on the spine as almost always found, NOT clipped. Housed in a solander case produced by the Chelsea Bindery.

2) ‘The Honourable Schoolboy‘; signed and inscribed: “John le Carré | for | Harry Bracken”. This is the rarer variant with blank endpapers, less common than the version with map endpapers. Near fine with Harry Barcken’s name on the ffep. The dust jacket is NOT clipped.

3) ‘Smiley’s People‘; signed and inscribed: “John le Carré | for Trevor | with best wishes | 11 Jan 85”. In fine condition with no previous owner’s scribbles of any sorts.

All books are in great condition with light shelf wear only.

The Karla Trilogy is probably the greatest achievement of spy fiction to date. A landmark book introducing and popularising an entire spy jargon to readers which is now frequently used in the genre. Largely inspired by the Cambridge Five scandal the books were an immediate success. Adapted into a British TV-series starring the great ALec Guinness, as well as a 2011 Blockbuster film starring Gary Oldman.

Signed AND inscribed first editions of the Karla trilogy do not often appear on the market with the majority of specimen being ‘flat signed’. Inscribed copies add the little bit of extra handwriting allowing us to verify the signatures as genuine more easily, and they bear more personality.