First four Poldark novels, file copies with the original publisher's contracts.

POLDARK - GRAHAM, Winston.

Edité par London: Ward, Lock & Co. Limited, 1945-46-50-53

A propos de cet article

A superb collection, highlighting the transfer of copyright of the first four titles in the phenomenally successful Poldark series from the original publishers, Ward, Lock, to the Bodley Head. This move led to their reissue in a new format, which paved the way for the television adaptations of 1975 and 2015. The collection includes the publisher's file copies of the first edition of the Poldark quartet, the publishing contracts signed by the Graham, the contract for Cordelia (a historical novel outside the series), and correspondence between Graham, his literary agents, and Ward, Lock, concerning the transfer of rights. In his Memoirs, Graham noted: "Had the first four Poldarks not been republished by Bodley Head in an attractive new format, they would have been out of print for years. and much less likely to catch the eye of Robert Clark and other film-makers" (pp. 193-4). Clark, chairman of Associated British Pictures, persuaded the BBC to adapt the novels for television. In 1957, Ward, Lock informed Graham that the quartet would fall out of print. The following year, Max Reinhardt of the Bodley Head offered to republish them, along with Graham's earlier works. The contracts for Ross Poldark (1945) and Demelza (1946) were cancelled on 1 June 1959 and the books republished in 1960; the contracts for the next two novels, Jeremy Poldark and Warleggan, were cancelled in 1960, leading to their 1961 reissue. Cordelia followed in 1963. The Cordelia contract is significant as it is both the first to name A. M. Heath, who had recently taken on Graham as a client, and the first to secure him a three-figure advance. Audrey Heath's literary agency, still operating today, represented him for the rest of his career. After Heath's death in 1958, Michael Thomas took over responsibility for Graham, having answered a trade advertisement for a "'Young Man With A View', £10 per week". The correspondence in the archive includes copies of two typed letters between Michael Thomas and Monica Bax, the assistant fiction editor at Ward, Lock, settling the cancellation of the original contracts between Ward, Lock and Graham. The first two Poldark books sold so well that the Bodley Head proceeded with publication of the other two books in the quartet. In a letter dated 21 August 1960, Graham tells Eric Shipton of Ward, Lock, that the Bodley Head "have written to me this week asking if the fourth of the series is now out of print. I seem to remember in my last statement from Ward, Lock that this book had just been remaindered". Shipton's reply a few days later, dated 24 August 1960, confirms that Warleggan "is now officially out of print. I do hope that all four books do really well; they certainly deserve to". The Poldark series eventually comprised 12 books, though there was a hiatus of 20 years before Graham resumed the fifth instalment in 1973. "By the time of his death, on 10 July 2003 [Graham] had produced a host of believable, often off-centre, characters in highly charged emotional and professional situations - while avoiding, he insisted, what he whole-heartedly detested, the so-called 'bodice-ripper'. He was a real writer of the old school, while drawing on some more contemporary mores, including giving his women an independent strength of character that was far from usual when he began his single-minded career" (ODNB). Winston Graham, Memoirs of a Private Man, 2003. Four works, octavo. Original cloth, spines lettered in gilt, black, or brown, publisher's file copy printed shelf sticker pasted to front covers. With dust jackets; Ross Poldark and Warleggan with publisher's file copy printed label pasted to front panels. Together with: 4 publisher's typed contracts, each comprising 2 typed sheets: a) Ross Poldark; b) Demelza; c) Jeremy Poldark and Warleggan; d) Cordelia; e) copy of typed letter dated 26 May 1959 from Monica Bax, assistant fiction editor at Ward, Lock to Michael Thomas, Messrs A. M. Heath & Co. Ltd, 35 Dover Street, London, W1; f).

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: First four Poldark novels, file copies with the original publisher's contracts.
• Éditeur: London: Ward, Lock & Co. Limited, 1945-46-50-53