The Gilt Kid. (First Edition, Inscribed)

“Soho Noir” Freshly released from prison, a Marxist makes his way back to London’s seedy underworld…

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First Edition. Inscribed by the author, Geoffrey Basil Maiden, under his pseudonymous name and dated in the year of publication: “To Mr. B.G.K. Allsop with gratitude and thanks from ‘James Curtis’ June 1936.”

A novel of petty crime and the gritty life of the down-and-out in London’s underworld during the 1930s. The protagonist is the Gilt Kid, a young, and already unrepentant, career burglar. The book is noted for its authentic slang and depiction of London’s West End. Purportedly, Curtis did his homework when writing The Gilt Kid by visiting area clubs and dives, listening and watching.

Allsop was a real estate agent of Allsop & Co. who developed Soho Square for businesses in the late 1920 and “flats for literary people and artists” —perhaps Curtis was a tenant.

Price: $350.00