To Let

To Let, the final volume of the Forsyte trilogy, chronicles the continuing feuds of the two factions within the troubled Forsyte family. The shadow of the past returns to haunt the lives of a new generation, as Irene's son Jon falls in love with Soames's daughter Fleur with tragic consequences.



John Galsworthy's To Let is of special note for some dubious reasons in the world of book collecting. To Let is the final installment in Galsworthy's Forsythe Saga, one of the most important and well regarded works of the time. In 1932 Galsworthy had won the Nobel Prize for literature, and signed, limited editions of many of his works were highly sought by book collectors. His first, pseudonymous work, From the Four Winds commonly commanded prices of more than $500 in the early 30's, a fair bit of money today, and a small fortune at the time.



While Galsworthy is still read and known, in part from the BBC television series based on the Forsythe Saga, his books are typically not worth a great deal of money to book collectors, and in fact, sell for less now than they did 80 years ago. John Galsworthy is possibly the first example of hypermodern book collecting, a phenomenon that now commonly sees brand newly released book selling for large sums of money in the antiquarian book market as dealers and collectors vie to speculate on future value, trying to buy in before prices go up. As we see in the example of poor Mr. Galsworthy, this speculation often is wrong in the longterm.