The Ipcress File.

DEIGHTON, Len.

$4,000.00

Item Number: 96914

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963.

First American edition of the author’s first book. Octavo, original black cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Harry Tomb Len Deighton.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Raymond Hawkey. Housed in an elaborate half morocco clamshell box mimicking the front panel of the dust jacket. From the library of bibliophile Donald Drapkin with his bookplate. An exceptional presentation.

Len Deighton's classic first novel, whose protagonist is a nameless spy - later christened Harry Palmer, was not only Deighton's first novel, it was his first bestseller and the book that broke the mould of thriller writing. "The Ipcress File helped change the shape of the espionage thriller...the prose is still as crisp and fresh as ever...there is an infectious energy about this book which makes it a joy to read, or re-read" (Sunday Times). It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as the protagonist.