le Carré, John (1968) ‘A Small Town in Germany’, UK signed and inscribed association first edition

John le Carré (1968) ‘A Small Town in Germany‘, UK first edition, first printing, published by Heinemann. Signed and inscribed by the author on the title page: “For Robin Atthill who (literally) taught me English, & a care for words, & an ear for language, David” Signed once more as John le Carré above the title.

Provenance: Robert Anthony (Robin) Atthill (1912-1994) taught English at Sherborne School where David Cornwell (John le Carré’s real name) was a pupil from September 1945 until July ’48. Atthill encouraged Cornwell to write poetry and the young man would regularly contribute poems to the school magazine, The Shirburnian. A wonderful association copy between the master of spy novels and his English master who significantly contributed to his education and offered support.

Condition: a very good copy in like dust jacket. The book displays some moderate foxing on the preliminary pages, and page block. The foxing at time ‘bites’ into internal sections of the pages, but the book is free from any scribbles, writing, bookplates etc. and generally clean. Boards are nice with light wear. The dust jacket is price clipped and shown light fading.