Sharon Kay Penman. HERE BE DRAGONS. Signed. 1st HC/DJ.

Penman, Sharon Kay.  HERE BE DRAGONS.  NY:  Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.  1st edition, 1st printing.  With “First Edition” and number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 printed on the copyright page which indicates that this is the correct 1st edition, 1st printing.  SIGNED IN FULL ON THE HALF-TITLE PAGE BY SHARON KAY PENMAN.  This is NOT a book club book. This is NOT an ex-library book.

Sharon Kay Penman is one of the best historical novelists in the world.  She is the author of THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR (her 1st novel), HERE BE DRAGONS (her 2nd novel and the 1st novel in the “Welsh Trilogy).  She is also the author of FALLS THE SHADOW and THE RECKONING, the 2nd and 3rd novels in the trilogy, respectively. 

SIGNED IN FULL ON THE HALF-TITLE PAGE BY SHARON KAY PENMAN.

From the dust jacket:  “ . . . His mother was Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress to a vast fortune, wife to the King of France.  In 1152, she deserted her husband for a man eleven years her junior . . . His father was that man  --  Henry Plantagenet.  He would use Eleanor’s fortune to seize the throne of England.  Later, he would imprison her within the great keep of Salisbury Castle for abetting his eldest sons in their revolt against him . . . He was the youngest  --  only five when his mother was imprisoned  --  and he was his father’s favorite.  He would return that love with betrayal and, through cunning and tenacity, become King in his own right.  He was John, King of England . . . He was charming, generous, able, and he was brutal, treacherous  --  his own worst enemy . . . She was his bastard, the issue of a liaison that was mere dalliance to a man of his strong sensuality, but was ruin for the woman he trifled with.  Hidden from him until her guilt-maddened mother died in poverty  --  she was brought to his court, a bewildered, frightened five-year-old.  He would cherish her, cosset her  --  and yet use her as a political pawn, marrying her at fourteen to a wild Welsh prince.  She was Joanna, and he was the father she adored and obeyed . . . Even his enemies called him Llewelyn the Great.  At fourteen, he began a civil war.  Before he was thirty, he held all North Wales.  He was John’s vassal  --  and his most bitter opponent, and his vision of a free and united Wales, unencumbered by English laws or English lords, would spur a lifelong crusade, leaving him little time for peace or pleasures.  He would marry John’s bastard  --  the word meant nothing to him  --  and thus secure an uneasy truce.  For Llewelyn, the marriage was consummate statecraft.  How could he know it would also lead him to a consummate love? . . . HERE BE DRAGONS is the story of a clash of cultures, of a tribal Celtic world besieged by a Norman feudal society bent on conquest, of a Welsh prince and an English king and a woman, born into one world, married into the other, torn between both, trapped in the crossfire of their implacable enmity . . . Told with a richness of detail that brings the England, France, and Wales of the thirteenth century fully to life, authentic in every aspect, sensitive to the intensely felt emotions of people caught up in forces beyond their control.  HERE BE DRAGONS is historical fiction in the grand tradition . . . “

Praise for THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR (from the rear panel of the dust jacket):

From the rear panel of the dust jacket:  “ . . . She [Penman] gives us a painstakingly drawn picture of royal medieval England . . . “  --  The Los Angeles Times.

From the rear panel of the dust jacket:  “ . . . England of the late fifteenth century is brought tellingly to life by Sharon Kay Penman in her vast and exquisitely written THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR . . . “  --  The Kansas City Star.

From the rear panel of the dust jacket:  “ . . . THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR is very well researched . . . “  --  The New York Times Book Review.

I grade books and dust jackets: fine, near fine, very good, good, fair, and poor. I describe all faults. If you sell books on EBAY (or anywhere else), it is de rigueur not to list 1st printings of book club books as 1st editions (unless they ARE the 1st edition, which occurs only occasionally); also, a 1st edition, 7th printing, is not a 1st edition. Ex-library books must be noted as such since generally they are of little value to the collector of 1st editions. Condition is also very important to those collectors. Books and dust jackets must be described in detail. In other words, it is incumbent upon the SELLER to know what is and is not a 1st edition. Mistakes can be made (and corrected), of course, but if you DON'T KNOW, don't try to sell a book as a 1st edition.

A FINE book in a FINE dust jacket.  The book is tight and square.  The endpapers have wonderful maps important to the story printed on them.  There is no writing in the book (except for Penman’s signature); no bookplates; no remainder marks (important in that copies of this book do show up with remainder marks at times).  The dust jacket is NOT price-clipped and shows the correct 1st issue price of $19.95.  There are no chips to the dust jacket.  Fantastic dust jacket illustration by artist Kinuko Y. Craft.  A MUST FOR THE COLLECTOR OF IMPORTANT MODERN HISTORICAL FICTION 1st EDITIONS AND/OR THE COLLECTOR OF SHARON KAY PENMAN 1st EDITIONS!

At the time of this listing, this is perhaps the best copy of this book currently available for sale on the Internet.

I am continuing to list some of my best books (especially science fiction, fantasy, and horror 1st editions) on EBAY not so much as auctions (due to the fact that EBAY charges quite a bit to list items for reserve auctions), but more along the lines of listing my "catalogue" of books that I have for sale. I'm not going to "give" these books away, but my opening bids and Buy-It-Now prices are usually a fair amount below market value. Furthermore, however, for certain scarce books in great condition, I do expect to get close to what they're worth. Stay with me; I always have a number of important, collectible, cornerstone science fiction, fantasy, and horror 1st editions listed. Many thanks!

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