Waugh Mark-up of Unconditional Surrender for Sale

Sotheby’s has announced the auction of Waugh’s marked-up copy of the uncorrected proof of his last novel, Unconditional Surrender. This is the third volume of his War Trilogy which was subsequently published as Sword of Honour with further edits. This mark-up is to be sold together with a presentation copy to Graham Greene of the published version. How the two books came together is not explained, but they are described as being sold “together in collector’s folding red morocco box.” The provenance is described as coming from a 2001 Christie’s sale by Roger Rechler but it is not clear whether that refers to both items nor does it identify the buyer in that transaction.

The Sotheby’s catalogue briefly describes Waugh’s edits: 

Waugh’s extensive emendations and alterations to the proof copy were all reflected in the published first edition, including an additional paragraph to be inserted on the penultimate page, written out by Waugh on the final page of the proof, and the renaming of Jack Spruce (the editor of a war-time magazine with a distinct resemblance to Cyril Connolly) to ‘Everard’ in blue ink throughout.

Alas, there is no photo of the “additional paragraph” on the penultimate page, but that could be worked out by anyone possessing an uncorrected proof. The auction will be in London on 12 July 2016, and these books are Lot 204. Estimated sale price £6000-8000. Other Waugh presentation copies as well as collections of his books will be sold on the same day. See Lots 195-203, 205.

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