HAROLD AND MAUDE
Doubly-inscribed first printing of the dark romantic comedy, later expanded into a cult-classic screenplay.
Near fine in very good plus jacket.
Price: $1,500.00
HAROLD AND MAUDE
"Harold's decapitated head stood upright on the serving platter while Harold placed sprigs of parsley in the blood around the neck."
Neither a straight inspiration for Hal Ashby's famous film adaptation nor a novelization, this novel was written in parallel with the screenplay, both of which grew out of Higgins original MFA thesis, and was published shortly after the film's release. HAROLD AND MAUDE tells the story of a romance between a morose and morbid young man and an elderly free spirit with great zest for life but little attachment to it, memorably played by Ruth Gordon on screen. Though contemporary critics took some offense to the film's style and the story's messages, it attracted (and kept) a fierce cult following, and is regularly cited as a classic. This copy is unusual for its double inscription, signed by Higgins twice to the same recipients at different dates. A great copy.
Read more: Leticia Kent, Criterion.com: "A Boy of Twenty and a Woman of Eighty."
The Object
First edition. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, (1971). 8'' x 5.5''. Original off-white cloth with decorative red stamping and spine lettering. Original Burgundy endpapers. Original unclipped white dust jacket with psychedelic lettering designed by Don Bender, photographic portrait of Higgins on rear panel by Henry Diltz. 145, [1] pages. Inscribed in black pen to front free endpaper: "For Jinette & Paul Emile / With all best wishes and much love, Colin / Mar 1973," followed by: "To Jinette and Paul Emile / Who will always be / My first family in France, with all my love, Colin / Jan 1974". Light wear and faint traces of shelfsoil to jacket, short tape repair to jacket verso, else near fine. Mild shelfwear to spine tips.
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