Robert Graves - I Claudius and Claudius the God - 1934

First edition, first printing of both volumes. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the John Aldridge illustrated dustwrappers. Folding chart at the rear.
Both volumes are very good to near fine in very good to near fine dust jackets. Rare in the dust jackets and particularly so in such nice condition. Not price clipped. In this condition these books are extremely hard to find.

I, Claudius: First edition, first printing (London: Arthur Barker, 1934), with "First published in 1934" stated on copyright page.

Condition: Very good to fine. Complete with the original dustwrapper which is internally strengthened at the spine tips and fold corners with professional bookseller's tape. Not price-clipped (8/- net to the front flap). Folding chart at the rear. Octavo, 494 pp.

Some browning to the spine. Some darker spots to the cloth (see photo). Book-plate pasted on inside front cover.

The internal pages are clean, bright and flat and crisp with no age toning, no stains, no marks, no writing, no bent pages and no foxing.

The binding is tight and there are no loose or dog-eared pages. No cracked hinges. With the originally uncut lower edge.

Claudius the God and his wife Messalina: London: Arthur Barker, 1934. First edition, first printing, with "First published in 1934" stated on copyright page.

Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5-575 [576: blank], two folding genealogical tables: one folded genealogical table between pages 76 and 77 and one tipped to p. [576], original black cloth, spine panel stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. Condition: Very good to fine. Complete with the original dustwrapper which is internally strengthened at the spine tips and fold corners with professional bookseller's tape. Not price-clipped (10/6 net to the front flap).

Scattered foxing to endpapers. Some darker spots to the back cover cloth. The internal pages are clean, bright and flat and crisp with no age toning, no stains, no marks, no writing, no bent pages and no foxing.

The binding is tight and there are no loose or dog-eared pages. No cracked hinges. With the original bottom edge untrimmed.

An attractive uniform first edition set of Robert Graves' pioneering masterpieces of historical fiction. Awarded the 1934 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction and recently ranked fourteenth by the Modern Library on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The I, Claudius novels formed the basis of the 1976 multi-award winning BBC Television series starring Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, and John Hurt.