First edition. Sm. 8vo. Pp. [vi], 248, [2]. Blue cloth boards, stamped in gilt to spine; decorated endpapers. First state dust jacket with 'earing' misspelled to rear panel.
Signed by Author to title-page. Modest erasure mark to f.f.e.p., not affecting illustration, usual toning to textblock edges, enclosed in a flawless dustwrapper.
Author's second book. Winner of the Barnes and Noble Discover Award for 2000. A richly imagined portrait of the young woman who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. Girl with a Pearl Earring is the story of 16-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius, even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil. Basis for the Academy Award nominated movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. "Chevalier brings the real artist Vermeer and a fictional muse to life in a jewel of a novel." –Time Magazine