Binding slightly dusty and stained: inscribed on the half-title “For David Cornwell (John le Carre), one of the Bobbsey Twins from the other - ! Let’s have a drink soon - all the best - Warren Leslie April 1964.” In 1964 Cornwell was two novels into his writing career, had been outed as being John le Carré, and had left the Foreign Office for the life of a professional writer, just as The Spy who came in from the Cold was becoming a spectacular success, especially in the US. He travelled to New York to promote the book and was widely fêted (by his father among others who apparently suggested that the son might be able to repay the money he’d spent on school fees), and must have encountered Leslie there. Leslie’s book is a critical view of Dallas, where he was a senior businessman, blaming a culture of rightwing politics for the creation of an atmosphere that allowed Kennedy’s assassination.
The “Bobbsey twins” of the inscription refers not to a Kennedy, but to a long running series of children’s books: the confidentiality of the joke is preserved, especially since one of the Bobbseys was male, one female.
From the library of David Cornwell aka John Le Carré.
Maggs Bros. Ltd., Catalogue 1526, John Le Carré: Books from The Library of Jane and David Cornwell at Tregiffian, Item 117.
