Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh

First edition, first printing - in the rare original dust jacket designed by the author. Octavo. Original red and black snakeskin-patterned cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Evelyn Waugh. Illustrated throughout with the author's own drawings. pp. 288. A superb example of Waugh's brilliant debut novel - a savage, absurdist satire of English society between the wars and one of the most celebrated comic novels of the twentieth century. Published when Waugh was just 25, Decline and Fall established his reputation overnight, blending biting wit with a uniquely modern sense of farce. This copy retains the rare first-issue jacket, printed in turquoise and brown with six portrait panels and the Chapman & Hall imprint at spine foot. The jacket shows light edgewear, small chips at head and tail of spine, and faint toning, but remains bright, complete, and unrestored. The book itself is very well preserved - clean and square, with minimal spotting and sound binding. The dust jacket, drawn by Waugh himself, is among the most iconic in twentieth-century literature, and few examples survive in this condition. Condition: Very Good+ (book) / Very Good (dust jacket). Jacket lightly toned at spine with minor chipping to crown, internally clean and bright. An exceptional copy of Waugh's first and funniest novel - complete in the original jacket and highly collectible.