CAMUS, Albert

[109] pp.

Hamish Hamilton

1957

First UK Edition

8″ x 5 1/4″

Jacket design by Patricia Davey

Fine/ Fine

A superb copy of the first UK edition of this philosophical novel from French existentialist author, Albert Camus. The first UK edition, first impression with no further impressions stated. This work was first published in French, titled ‘La Chute’, the year prior. Translated into English by Justin O’Brien. In the publisher’s original price unclipped dust wrapper. ‘The Fall’ was Camus’ last work of fiction.

The Fall (French: La Chute) is a philosophical novel by Albert Camus. First published in 1956, it is his last complete work of fiction. Set in Amsterdam, The Fall consists of a series of dramatic monologues by the self-proclaimed “judge-penitent” Jean-Baptiste Clamence, as he reflects upon his life to a stranger. In what amounts to a confession, Clamence tells of his success as a wealthy Parisian defense lawyer who was highly respected by his colleagues. His crisis, and his ultimate “fall” from grace, was meant to invoke, in secular terms, the fall of man from the Garden of Eden. The Fall explores themes of innocence, imprisonment, non-existence, and truth. In a eulogy to Albert Camus, existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described the novel as “perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood” of Camus’ books.