London: Michael Joseph, 1953

8vo, pp. 303. Original grey boards, lettered in white and gilt to spine. Frontispiece, illustrated endpapers and dust jacket design by Denis Williams. Small contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper, light bumping to spine ends, otherwise a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a little light wear to corners and spine ends.

First edition of Lamming's first novel.

Lamming's autobiographical coming-of-age novel, set in his native Barbados, In the Castle of My Skin won the Somerset Maugham Award and was warmly welcomed by his peers -- the preface to the first US edition was provided by Richard Wright. (His second novel, The Emigrants (1954) follows his protagonist on his journey to England.) Very scarce.