The Moon and Sixpence (The Collector's Library of Famous Editions)

282 pp. 8vo. Red-orange full leather, gilt titles & decorations, all edges gilt, silk moire endpapers, ribbon marker bound in. Introduction by John T. Winterich, illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele and Paul Gauguin. Originally published in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of the power of sexual obsession and of modern man's yearning for freedom. This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle. Philip yearns for adventure, and at eighteen leaves home, eventually pursuing a career as an artist in Paris. When he returns to London to study medicine, he meets the androgynous but alluring Mildred and begins a doomed love affair that will change the course of his life. There is no more powerful story of sexual infatuation, of human longing for connection and freedom.