O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Informer. FIRST EDITION OF THIS CLASSIC NOVEL

London: Jonathan Cape, 1925. First edition, first impression, with the words “FIRST PUBLISHED 1925” printed on the copyright page. Crown octavo. pp. 272. Cloth. A fine copy in near fine price-clipped dust jacket.
Liam O’Flaherty was born on August 28th 1896 at Gort-na-gCapall on Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands, the eighth child and second surviving son among fourteen children (of whom only eleven survived) of Michael O’Flaherty, smallholder, and his wife Margaret (née Ganley; of Protestant descent).
O’Flaherty achieved both critical and popular success with The Informer (1925), a novel of the Dublin underground in the aftermath of the civil war, which was adapted numerous times, most famously by John Ford for RKO Pictures in 1935. The novel centers on “Gypo” Nolan. Having disclosed the whereabouts of his friend Frankie McPhillip to the police for a reward, Gypo finds himself hunted by his revolutionary comrades for this betrayal. It received the 1925 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and inspired the Oscar-winning film of 1935 starring Victor McLaglen.

[Cat 161]