£150
FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, 8vo, pp. 127, [1]. Original green boards, spine lettered in gilt, dustjacket printed in black and green. White dustjacket just a touch toned. Inscribed to flyleaf: ‘To Jean with all good wishes from Agnes Owens’.
An inscribed copy of the first edition of Owens' first novel, a loose, Glasgow-set narrative about the life of a bricklayer. Owens came to writing late in life and an anecdote related by Alasdair Gray has the manuscript of this novel being sent to Billy Connolly in hopes of an approving quote, only to be eventually retrieved unread when Owens got a part-time cleaning job in Connolly's house. It did see publication on its own merits - with a dustjacket design by Alasdair Gray - and went on to influence Booker Prize-winning novelist Douglas Stuart.
