First edition. Octavo. Publisher’s black cloth, lettered gilt to the spine, in the original dustwrapper. Top edge red.
 
A near fine copy in a very good dustwrapper, red lettering to the spine slightly faded, slight rubbing to spine ends.
 
The first edition of Forster’s homosexual novel, only published after his death and nearly sixty years after its composition.
 
Forster opens the book with an oblique dedication “Begun 1913 Finished 1914 Dedicated to a happier year”. It was begun following a visit to Edward Carpenter when he met George Merrill and felt his first sensation of homosexual love. Immediately a novel began to form in his mind that dealth with homosexuality and gave two characters a happy ending.
 
Forster initially only showed the novel to close friends, but even nearer to the end of his life when a novel with these themes would have been more socially acceptable, he insisted it not be published until after his death.