LE GUIN, Ursula K[roeber]. The Farthest Shore. Illustrated by Gail Garraty. NY: Atheneum, 1972. 8vo, [xii] 223pp. Black cloth pictorially stamped in light purple. Light purple endpapers; double-page map, and b&w illustrated chapterheadings. Minute bumping to spine ends and corners, else a fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (minute chipping to corners, rear panel sunned at bottom).

First edition. 1973 National Book Award Winner! The third book in Le Guin’s beloved Earthsea Cycle continuing the tale several decades after the events of the Newbery Honor winning The Tombs of Atuan, which had been published the previous year. The world and its wizards are losing their magic. But Ged Sparrohawk — Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord — is determined to discover the source of this devastating loss. Le Guin originally planned for this to be the final title in what she thought of as The Earthsea Trilogy, but reopened the series with Tehanu eighteen years later.