HANFF, Helene. 84, Charing Cross Road.

(London): Andre Deutsch, 1971. First UK edition. Octavo. Hanff’s celebrated account of her twenty-year correspondence with Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co, antiquarian booksellers located at the eponymous address in London, England. Hanff, in search of obscure classics and British literature titles she had been unable to find in New York City, noticed an ad in the Saturday Review of Literature and first contacted the shop in 1949, and it fell to Doel to fulfill her requests. In time, a long-distance friendship evolved, not only between the two, but between Hanff and other staff members as well, with an exchange of Christmas packages, birthday gifts, and food parcels to compensate for post-World War II food shortages in Britain. Their letters included discussions about topics as diverse as the sermons of John Donne, how to make Yorkshire Pudding, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the coronation of Elizabeth II. The book made into a stage play, television play and film, the latter starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. This is a near fine copy, in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.