Gentlemen of the West : Agnes Owens : Jacket by Alasdair Gray : 1st 1984

By Agnes Owens

Jacket design by Alasdair Gray

Published by Polygon Books, 1984. First Edition of the author's first book. Hardback book in an unclipped dust jacket. 127 pages.

CONDITION
A fine copy. The dust jacket remains unclipped and in very good condition with no tears or damage. All contents present and pages very good throughout. No writing or names to the book. Overall a very good first edition.

Agnes Owens (24 May 1926 – 13 October 2014) was a Scottish author.

Owens came to attention through a writer's group led by Liz Lochhead in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, visited by Alasdair Gray and James Kelman. It was said that the by then middle aged Owens had only attended the class originally "to get out of the house". She went on to draw upon her background in a series of novels noted for their accomplishment, brutal humour and powers of observation.

In his postscript to Lean Tales Alasdair Gray describes the early part of Owens' writing career: "Her first novel, Gentlemen of the West, was returned by a publisher who said that he might consider printing it if a famous Scottish comedian said something about it which could be used as an advertisement. She posted the typescript to the comedian who put it on that pile of unsolicited correspondence which no famous person has time to answer. Industry in the Vale of Leven started closing even faster than in the rest of Britain. Westclox limited went into liquidation and Agnes did what our dynamic prime minister would do if the Thatcher family had to go on the dole: she hunted for part-time cleaning jobs. She worked for a while in the house of the comedian who had received her typescript a few years before, and got it back." The first novel was published in 1984, and the famous comedian mentioned was Billy Connolly.

(Loc : Platform, Alasdair Gray Shelf)