Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Signed First Edition of “Rebecca” - 1938
Stated First Edition, first printing, of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1938 by Doubleday Doran and Co. Signed by the author on the second free end-paper without inscription.
Condition Very Good, with new facsimile dust jacket. Maroon cloth with silver band decorated in blue, featuring the Manderley estate described in the story. As is common with the first edition, bands cracked on front and rear panels at gutter near spine, though separation is only about 1/8″. Light soiling inside front and rear covers at spine, otherwise no markings or bookplates.
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE (1907-1989) was a British author and playwright. Although classed as a romantic novelist, her stories seldom feature a conventional happy ending, and have been described as “moody and resonant,” with overtones of the paranormal. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including this novel, Rebecca, and the short story The Birds, which served as the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic film of the same name starring Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor.
Rebecca, however, was du Maurier’s most important book, having also been made into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, starring Joan Fontaine, Laurence Oliver, George Sanders, and Judith Anderson. It was actually Hitchcock’s first American project, which won two Academy Awards, including Best Picture, out of a total of 11 nominations. Olivier, Fontaine and Anderson were all Oscar nominated for their respective roles.