Thin Ice

London: Chatto & Windus, December 1956. First Edition. Cloth . Very Good/Very Good. First UK edition in very good dustjacket with small grey & brown smudges back jacket panel. Plus darkening/sunning to spine. Not price clipped. Original British price 13s 6d bottom corner of front flap. Unfortunately someone (presumably a US dealer of old) has inked in small neat hand 3.25 in top corner where one would expect to find the US price if this was not a UK edition. Blue cloth boards with gold lettering on spine. Slight lean to spine & mild bruise to cloth top of spine. Darkening to textblock top edge. Interior text without markings. Sound binding. Thin Ice doubtless seemss dated to some modern readers. One on-line 'reviewer' refers to 'its purported 'homosexual' content'. Nevertheless, the Scottish novelist Compton Mackenzie (1883 - 1972) deserves to be read and reread, for his subtle, almost Firbankian humor. Speaking of Firbankian, this is an interesting association copy from the collection of American novelist, photographer & literary executor of Gertrude Stein, Carl Van Vechten (1880 - 1964) . Van Vechten was about as close to openly gay as American of his generation could be. He was married to women (several, I think) most of his life, but he had numerous relationships with men. So it is fun to find this charmingly odd novel of his collection. Affixed to the front pastedown there is a bookplate: Ex Libris Carl Van Vechten with a drawing of a naked man fanning himself while a cat plays cello before him. On the rear pastedown there is likewise affixed a Yale University Library bookplate that states 'Bequest of Carl Van Vechten'. On the bottom left corner of this same page is a small sticker from 'The Holliday Bookshop, 119 East 54th Street, New York 22, N.Y.