Le Carré (John).- Knight (Maxwell) Talking Birds, first edition, double-signed by Le Carré "David J. Cornwell AKA John le Carré on title, illustrations by John Le Carré, plates, Le Carré's compliments slip loosely inserted, ink ownership inscription to endpaper, original boards, light bumping to spine ends and corners, dust-jacket, light sunning to spine, small nicks and creasing to foot of upper panel, light surface soiling to lower panel, extremities rubbed, 8vo, 1961.

⁂ A rare Le Carré item - we can trace no other signed copy. Maxwell Knight (1900-68), as well as being an acclaimed naturalist and broadcaster, worked as a spymaster at MI5 and was reputedly the inspiration for Ian Fleming's 'M' as well as for Le Carré's Jack Brotherhood in A Perfect Spy. Published in the same year as A Call for the Dead, the present work is one of the earliest appearances in print for Le Carré and an especially unusual display of his talents as an illustrator.