Adrift In Soho : Colin Wilson , 1961 [ First US Edition ]

Description

Stated first American edition in dust jacket of Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson , author of The Outsider, Ritual in the Dark and The Occult

 

Wilson, Colin. Adrift In Soho. Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press : Boston , Cambridge. 1961. First American edition.

 

First American edition of Adrift in Soho, a semi-autobiographical novel by Colin Wilson consisting of a fictionalized account of his early years in London as a largely homeless teenage Royal Air Force drop out. Recast as “Harry Preston”, the protagonist’s self-searching journey through the Beat generation culture of Soho and Notting Hill reflects the period in Wilson’s life when he was writing The Outsider at the British Library and spending nights sleeping in parks.  Re-released by New London Editions in 2011, Adrift in Soho has risen to new fame with the release of a 2018 film adaptation directed by Pablo Behrens.

 

8vo, 229pp, blue cloth boards with title blindstamped to front, title, author and publisher gilt to spine. Corners and spine ends rubbed, minor wear to bottom board edges. Small white stain along top back board edge. Bookblock, pastedowns and endpapers toned. Minor spotting to pastedowns. Pages clean. Very good. Original, non-price clipped pictorial dust jacket. Spine darkened with minor losses at ends. Darkening with wear to front flap corners. Front flap $3.50 price crossed out and changed to 49 in pen.  Very good.

 

If you like this book you might also enjoy this December 1959 copy of Twentieth Century Magazine featuring an interview with Colin Wilson.