Lot 115: HUDSON, W. H.

Green Mansions: a Romance of the Tropical Forest. London: Duckworth, 1904

In 8s (7 1/2 x 5 in.; 185 x 125 mm). Original green cloth; a trifle soiled.

Payne A23a

First edition, early binding. Presentation copy to John Galsworthy, inscribed by the author on the half-title: "To John Galsworthy / from W. H. Hudson." A telling association copy of Hudson's best-loved book. In 1904 Putnam's imported Duckworth sheets for a small American issue of Green Mansions. But it was John Galsworthy who was instrumental in eventually getting the novel published in America ? in 1916 when Knopf, at his urging, issued an edition with his introduction. This U. S. edition went through twenty-two printings by 1925 and brought Hudson his first (and only) commercial success; indeed, of all of Hudson's works, only Green Mansions achieved real popularity. In a letter to Galsworthy of 31 January 1904, Hudson praises Galsworthy's The Island Pharisees, which had been sent to him, and adds: "Please don't trouble to expect any particular pleasure from Green Mansions. I've never taken myself seriously as a fictionist and am not going to try to begin now. I hope to send you a copy one day this week" (Marrot, The Life and Letters of John Galsworthy, p. 161).