Berlin in the 1930s: (1) Goodbye to Berlin (1977). (2) Berlin Diary (1943). (3) End of Berlin Diary (1947)

[See also Lot 159]

This lot features three famous titles on pre- and early-Second World War Berlin, by two famous writers, all first published in the 1940s. All still make vivid reading some three-quarters of a century after the events diarised or reported by their authors.

1. Goodbye to Berlin. New illustrated edition based on the text of the first (1945) edition. Cover illustration and 12 full-page b/w illustrations in the text are by George Grosz, selected by Frank Whitford. Patterned paper-board slipcase, colour-printed cloth-board covers with brown lettering to the spine, plain brown endpapers, 256 pp of text on wove paper.
2. Berlin Diary. Colour dustjacket, black cloth-boards blind embossed to the upper panel and blue lettering and design to the spine, plain endpapers, top page-edge tinted blue, vii + 483 pp of text + pp i-x of index.
3. End of a Berlin Diary. Two-colour typographical dustjacket, royal blue cloth-boards with silver lettering to the spine, top page-edge tinted red, plain endpapers, x + 369 pp of text + pp i-v of index.

CONDITION NOTES

1. This is the first (1977) reprint of the first Folio Society edition of 1975. Unmarked. Complete in all respects (including a loosely inserted Folio Society flyer). Fine throughout. Probably unread.
2. This 1943 edition (the first was 1941) was reset and printed from new plates. The lightly rubbed and chipped dustjacket has been reinforced with paper on the inside and covered with clear plastic: it still presents well. The boards are rubbed at the spine-ends, corners and foot of the upper board. The top page-edge tint is still bright. The binding has loosened slightly after a crack between he last leaf of the book and the back end-paper. The front endpaper has an early ownership signature from Turin, Italy, 15-6-45 (which was very soon after the liberation of Europe), and two others. The contents are bright on undiscoloured pages; and the overall condition is G+.
3. This is a copy of the first U K edition of 1947. The lightly chipped dustjacket has been reinforced with paper on the inside and covered with clear plastic. The binding remains tight. The top page-edge tint remains bright. The boards are rubbed at the spine-ends and corners. There is a 1947 dedication in ink on the front free endpaper. The contents are otherwise unmarked, complete and undiscoloured; with the overall condition very good.

These three books (especially if combined with the three books in Lot 159, the six in Lot 129 and the four in Lot 196) would make an attractive starting collection on the Second World War.