Brideshead Revisited. The Sacred And Profane Memories Of Captain Charles Ryder. Waugh, Evelyn.

First trade edition, first impression, of Waugh's most enduring novel, which he often referred to as his magnum opus. Brideshead Revisited was written from January to June 1944, while Waugh was recovering after breaking his leg during parachute training. The author revealed in his autobiography that the story "portrays some aspects of my Oxford life" (Waugh, p. 191). The character of Sebastian Flyte was based on memories of Alastair Graham, one of Waugh's best friends and "romances" during his university years. Exploring the theme of Catholicism for the first time, the novel was described by Waugh as "an attempt to trace the workings of the divine purpose in a pagan world, in the lives of an English Catholic family, half-paganised themselves, in the world of 1929-39" (Wilson, p. 108). The trade edition is preceded only by a small pre-publication issue, privately printed for the author and circulated among friends, such as Nancy Mitford, to receive comments and suggestions for improvements; as a result of their criticisms, Waugh substantially revised the text for the present edition. Evelyn Waugh, A Little Learning: the First Volume of an Autobiography, 1964; John Howard Wilson, Evelyn Waugh: a Literary Biography, 1996. Octavo (180 x 113 mm). Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in greenish-blue morocco, spine lettered and decorated with centre tool gilt, raised bands, twin rule to turn-ins gilt, patterned endpapers, gilt edges. A fine copy.