Citadel, The

London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1937. The Landmark Medical Novel - The Citadel Warmly Inscribed by A. J. Cronin to Ingle Barr

CRONIN, A.J. The Citadel. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1937.

First edition, warmly inscribed by A.J. Cronin to the distinguished British barrister Ingle Barr (later King's Counsel), suggesting a warm personal and professional friendship.

Octavo (7 3/4 x 5 inches; 197 x 127 mm.). [1-7], 8-446, [2, blank] pp.

Publisher's black cloth over boards, spine lettered in gilt - slightly dull. A near fine copy in the original yellow dust jacket printed in pink and black. Spine of dust jacket very slightly darkened, otherwise near fine.

Inscribed on the front free-endpaper: "To Ingle Barr/who knows books &/loves them./A.J. Cronin/Lucerne/June 1957/A man's a man for a 'that.'"

Cronin's masterpiece, warmly inscribed to the barrister Ingle Barr with a literary quotation from Burns, and part of a remarkable group of volumes documenting a long-standing personal friendship.

The Citadel is widely regarded as Cronin's masterpiece and one of the most influential novels of the 20th century on medical ethics and public health. Its critique of medical practice, class inequities, and professional corruption
is often credited with helping shape public opinion that ultimately contributed to the creation of the National Health Service. The novel was an immediate bestseller and adapted into a highly successful 1938 film.

Ingle Barr, K.C. (1908-1974), was a distinguished British barrister (King's Counsel) who practiced commercial and civil law in London. He was a noted book collector and was active during the mid-20th century in senior legal circles and known within professional and intellectual networks rather than as a public celebrity. While not a household name today, Barr belonged to the upper tier of the British legal profession, precisely the sort of figure with whom a writer like Cronin would naturally associate.