Shining Scabbard by R.C. Hutchinson / Eric Ravilious first edition 1936

HUTCHINSON, R. C. Shining Scabbard.

London, Cassell, 1936.
 
First edition. 8vo, pp. vi, 506. Publisher's red cloth, gilt lettering to spine; in the original dust wrapper designed by Eric Ravilious and priced 8s. 6d. net. Light spotting to edges, a touch of offsetting to endpapers; the wrapper lightly toned with some minor soiling and trivial wear to spine ends, but a bright example of a rare jacket. Near fine. 
 
An early novel by R. C. Hutchinson (1907–1975), set in the turbulent political atmosphere of early Third-Republic France. He would go on to pen ambitious, character-led novels that later made his reputation, such as the W.H. Smith Literary ward winning novel 'A Child Possessed' and the Booker short listed 'Rising'.
 
The striking dust wrapper is designed by Eric Ravilious, one of the key British artists of the interwar period. Survival of this jacket in near fine condition is uncommon. A superb copy of a lesser-known but attractive Ravilious-wrappered novel.