McEwan, Ian — Black Dogs

London Jonathan Cape pp. 174. 8vo. Half-bound in cloth over marbled boards, with gilt lettering to spine. Near fine condition with no visible flaws. This is a special issue of the first edition of this title, 150 copies only being bound from the sheets of the first trade edition, each of which is numbered (this being #22) and signed by the author on the title page, preceded by a cancel title page bearing the imprint of London Limited Editions. There is virtually no information easily available about this imprint, but it appears that it was an off-shoot of the London bookseller and publisher, Bertram Rota Limited, as the address and telephone number for London Limited Editions is the same as that for Bertram Rota (31 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London), and they are well known for their specialty in modern first editions. It also appears that these limited editions were only issued from 1985 to 1994, each title being bound similarly (but quite different from the trade edition), the style being half cloth over marbled boards, with the author, title, and series name being lettered and boxed in gilt to the spine.