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ASH RARE BOOKS
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UNITED KINGDOM

London : Faber & Faber, (1954). First edition : in the variant and almost certainly primary binding of orange-brown cloth, blocked and lettered in maroon. Absent-minded and dotty old autocrat, bright young godson, endless muddles, mismanagement of the village fête, charming young woman – “Everyone will agree they are in good company from beginning to end”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (214),[ii]pp. Original cloth; just a hint of sunning; light spotting to edges and endpapers; erasure mark from front free endpaper, but a very good and sound copy in the original yellow, blue, black, red and white dust-jacket – just lightly used and with slight fraying of inner flaps, but still very good.

£20

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London : Arthur Barker, (1960). First edition. The fifth and last of the Guy Random novels – “a peer caught in a mouse-trap; three dozen mixed gadabouts stuffed into the boot-cupboard ... a striptease artiste roosting in the chandelier; and a weight-lifter entombed in the grand piano”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (232)pp. Original maroon boards, blocked and lettered across spine in yellow; a few faint spots, but a very good and sound copy in the original Sinc dust-jacket – a pictorial design in black, cerise, yellow and white – lightly rubbed and worn, and slightly dusty on lower panel.

£20

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London : Arthur Barker, (1959). First edition. The fourth Guy Random novel – ranging from East Anglia to the Costa del Sol, via the gilded drawing-rooms of Belgravia and Soho’s Vulture Club.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (232)pp. Original jade boards, blocked and lettered across spine in pink; slight spotting of edges; faint tanning of endpapers, but a very good and bright copy in the original John Dugan dust-jacket – a pictorial design in orange, green, black and white – just faintly sunned and with just a hint of rubbing.

£20

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London : Stanley Paul & Co., (1911). First edition. “He’d need a long arm who wanted to crown Troddles ... this Prisoner of Zenda story gone wrong” – from the introduction by William Reginald Hodder, who appears also to have co-written the story.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (324) + (48)pp. Illustrations by G. W. Wakefield. Original green cloth, lettered and pictorially blocked on upper cover and spine in black; a few very minor signs of age and use; slight spotting of edges, but a very good copy.

£25

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Bristol : J. W. Arrowsmith, 1885. First edition : in the variant brown binding. A statue of Aphrodite brought to life by the application of an engagement ring and some make-up. Twice filmed, with Maud Cressall playing the Venus in 1921 and Ava Gardner in 1948.
Foolscap 8vo (17cm). [iv],192pp. Original brown cloth, ruled and lettered on front cover in black, and on spine in gilt; chocolate endpapers; spine a shade darkened; two corners lightly bruised; endpapers cracking at hinges, but otherwise very good. Sadleir 53. Wolff 167a.

£50

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London : Pilot Press, 1946. First edition. His first book – the comical Chelsea landlady makes a bow. With some stylish illustrations by Robert Jordan.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 110,[ii]pp. Illustrations. Original green cloth, lettered in silver; a touch of sunning at foot; slight spotting of edges and prelims, but a very good copy in the original Jordan dust-jacket – a pictorial design in red and black on white – a little worn, chipped, nicked and soiled.

£20

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London : Anthony Blond, (1963). First edition. “A birdie of a book” from the late lamented Paddy Campbell. “May be read with enjoyment (as I have just proved) even by people who don’t know a mashie from a mashed potato” (The Sphere, 13th July 1963).
Crown 8vo (19cm). (144)pp. Illustrations by Quentin Blake. Original green boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the original pictorial Quentin Blake dust-jacket – also very good.

£50

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London : Cynicus Publishing Co. / Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 1892. Second edition. The first and best of Anderson’s volumes of assaults on Victorian hypocrisy – mordant caricature with telling captions and verses – dedicated to the “dear deceitful world”. Originally published in a larger format in 1890.
Foolscap 4to (20cm). [80]pp. Illustrated throughout. Original decorative cloth gilt; all edges gilt; a little rubbed and worn; a little shaken; some marks, browning and slight signs of age and use, but a good and still bright copy.

£40

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London : Hollis & Carter, (1959). First edition. A witty guide for the new generation of innocent and not-so-innocent tourists, delightfully illustrated by Anton.
Post 8vo (22cm). (128)pp. Illustrations. Original red boards, ruled and lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the original Anton dust-jacket – a pictorial design in red, white and black – price-clipped, very slightly rubbed and lightly tanned, but also very good.

£15

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London : Macdonald & Co. (Publishers), (1952). First edition. An entertaining account of coming to London – and the perils and pitfalls of railway porters, private hotels, service flatlets, cab-drivers, digs, bed-sitting rooms, gas-rings, and all the hazards that may greet a young woman from the provinces (in this case Liverpool) – “Unless you intend coming in nothing but a fig leaf and a string of beads you will not expect your arrival in London to cause any sensation”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 54,[ii]pp. Title-page and illustrations by Ronald Searle. Original red boards, lettered in black; some spotting of edges and prelims, but otherwise a very good copy in the original Searle dust-jacket – a pictorial design of bed-sit, sausages and fire-hazard – just lightly used and with a few spots, but also very good.

£15

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London : Hamish Hamilton, (1961). First edition. His first book – a novel set on the rarer fringes of London literary society. “A little bit of nonsense, young nonsense at that, but excellently contained ... a young man in love and in and out of money ... filled with wonderfully useful references to the preoccupations of the young. It is fun” (The Sphere, 3rd June 1961).
Crown 8vo (20cm). 288pp. Original orange-red boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a few edge-spots, but a very good, bright and sound copy in the original dust-jacket – a pictorial design by Quentin Blake in purple, ochre and black on white – also very good indeed.

£25

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London : Herbert Jenkins, [ca.1935]. Popular edition. “‘Damn!’ commented Peter Pettigrew. ‘It’s a woman! Looks dangerously like one anyhow’”. A life of rabid bachelordom rudely interrupted. First published in 1932.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (248)pp. Original grey cloth, ruled, blocked and lettered in black; spine a little spotted, especially where the jacket is defective; some spotting of edges and endpapers, but a good and sound copy in the original pictorial Philip Simmons dust-jacket – somewhat worn, torn and repaired, as well as lacking the top 4cm (inch and a half) of the spine.

£20

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London : Michael Joseph, (1954). First edition. An early title from the author of “Doctor in the House”, etc. – disappearance overboard of ship’s most glamorous passenger, etc.
Post 8vo (21cm). (220),[iv]pp. Original black boards, blocked in white and gilt, and lettered in gilt across spine; very faint tanning of endpapers; one leaf with tiny mark, but overall a very good, clean and sound copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket – a caricature design in red and black – just very faintly rubbed and slightly nicked – but also very good.

£20

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London : Michael Joseph, (1959). First edition. Simon Sparrow, Dr Grimsdyke, Sir Lancelot Spratt, etc.
Post 8vo (21cm). 190,[ii]pp. Original black boards, blocked in white and gilt, and lettered in gilt across spine; a very good, clean and sound copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket – a caricature design in yellow and black – just very faintly rubbed and slightly nicked – but also very good.

£20

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London : Michael Joseph, (1960). First edition. Dr Grimsdyke gets involved with the Riviera Film Festival – and Miss Melody Madder.
Post 8vo (21cm). 184,[iv]pp. Original black boards, blocked on spine in gilt and white, lettered across spine in gilt; a very good copy in the original pink, white and black dust-jacket – just lightly sunned.

£15

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London : Greening & Co., 1906. First edition. A winged Immortal from the planet Muran visits Earth “for the purposes of research – historical and otherwise”. Not much radium and not much romance, as the reviewer for the “Illustrated London News” (5th May 1906) pointed out – but in visiting the House of Commons, being demonstrated at the Royal Society, attending an “at home”, and interviewing prominent people, there is plenty of scope for some delicate satire on Edwardian Society. Written in his retirement by the Cornish journalist J. Henry Harris.
Crown 8vo (20cm). [iv],(236)pp + 52pp inserted publisher’s advertisements dated 1905-1906, printed in red and black. Original pictorial cloth, gilt and enamelled; a few minor marks; endpapers lightly tanned, but a very good, bright and sound copy.

£100

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London : Golden Gallery Press, [1946]. First edition. “A necessary book on the lighter side of riding” – a whimsical and highly amusing companion. In the Binnacle Books series.
Demy 8vo (22cm). 64pp. Illustrated throughout with line drawings printed on a pale ochre ground. Decorated endpapers. Original green cloth, blocked and lettered in gilt; just a hint of sunning, but a very good copy in the original yellow and black Hilder dust-jacket – price-clipped and a little chipped and repaired.

£20

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London : Chatto & Windus, 1982. First edition. Prince buys manor in Cotswolds – a comic extravaganza ensues.
Post 8vo (21cm). (216)pp. Original red-pink boards, lettered in gilt; text a little tanned, but otherwise very good in the original John Sutcliffe dust-jacket – a touch sunned, but also very good. Bookplate of Peter Apap Bologna.

£20

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London : Robert John Bush, 1877. First edition. More inspired nonsense from Edward Lear – with the present volume containing the first appearance of “The Dong with the Luminous Nose”, “The Pobble Who Has No Toes”, “The Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò”, “The Akond of Swat”, etc.
Foolscap 4to (21cm). [128],4pp. Numerous illustrations by the author. Original pictorial cloth gilt over bevelled boards, in a Lear design, by W. Bone & Son; expertly resewn and refurbished; endpapers replaced; a few small marks to covers; light spotting to prelims, but overall a very good copy. Contemporary armorial bookplate of the Tatton family – presumably at this date that of Thomas Egerton Tatton (1846-1924).

£500

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London : Robert John Bush, 1877. First edition. More inspired nonsense from Edward Lear – with the present collection containing the first appearance of “The Dong with the Luminous Nose”, “The Pobble Who Has No Toes”, “The Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò”, “The Pelican Chorus”, “The Akond of Swat”, etc.
Foolscap 4to (200 x 158mm). [128],4pp. Numerous illustrations by the author, music, etc. Bound in an elegant recent half russet morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; some internal marks and spots, but a handsomely bound copy of some of the most inspired nonsense in the language.

£500

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London : Stanley Paul, [1947]. First edition. Three young men, beautiful young woman found bound and gagged, missing jewel, crazy crooks, maharajah, opera-loving policeman, etc. His first novel.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 224pp. Original stone cloth, lettered in red; a touch of sunning at foot; a few faint edge spots, but a very good copy in the original pictorial Thompson dust-jacket – a little worn and slightly chipped at extremities.

£15

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London : Faber & Faber, (1937). First edition. “The amusement to be obtained from a simple yet ingenious puzzle, and the pride of quickly solving it, sets up a well-being far more important in keeping the doctor away than any number of apples”. A brain-teaser (with some nice seasonal touches) for every day of the year (not forgetting leap-years) – with solutions at the end – and hints on how to tackle similar problems.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (232)pp. Diagrams, etc. Original pale blue cloth, lettered in red; a little sunned; some spotting, mainly of edges; a good copy in the striking dust-jacket by Edward Bawden (1903-1989) – the jacket a little chipped and slightly tanned, but essentially complete and a most uncommon survival. A few internal pencil marks perhaps suggesting less than assiduous application to the problems by a previous owner.

£75

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London : Dennis Dobson, (1965). First edition. Square bits, simple verse for simpletons, twit bits, so-so stories and dense jungle for dense people.
Demy 8vo (22cm). [iv],(90),[ii]pp – including integral endpapers. Numerous illustrations. Original blue boards, lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the dust-jacket, lightly worn and with tiny chips at extremities. Contemporary gift inscription to Gerald from Inga.

£25

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London : Michael Joseph, (1971). First edition. “A man called Chamberlain who did Prime Minister impressions spoke on the wireless; he said, ‘As from eleven o’clock we are at war with Germany’. (I loved the WE) ...”. Autobiography, truth, and humour from Milligan, who performed (rather than read) parts of the book at the Bedford Square Book Bang to tumultuous applause that summer.
Demy 8vo (23cm). [iv],146,[ii]pp. Illustrations. Photographs. Original black boards, lettered in gilt; a few faint edge-spots, but a very good copy in the dust-jacket — the jacket a little sunned, worn and slightly chipped, with a relatively unobtrusive repaired tear and split to the rear panel extending to its full height. Contemporary May 1971 gift inscription, with twelve signatories, on front paste-down.

£25

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London : Hamish Hamilton, (1962). First edition. A collection of fourteen sparkling essays, including Nanny in the young Mitfords’ nursery; her thoughts on chic (English, French and American); on reading for pleasure; a hilarious visit to non-U Russia; an essay on Ireland, with a subversive lapse into bad language, and much else besides. Later published in France as “Snobismes et Voyages”.
Post 8vo (21cm). [viii],144pp. Six plates on coloured stock by the inimitable Osbert Lancaster. Original red and black weave boards, blocked and lettered in silver; some spotting, mainly to top edge and prelims, but otherwise a very good, bright and sound copy in the Osbert Lancaster dust-jacket – the jacket price-clipped, with a single short tear and some mild discolouration to the rear panel, but otherwise also very good.

£50

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London : C. Arthur Pearson, 1899. First edition. The tongue-in-cheek thesis is that nothing about the home could not be better managed by men, from purchasing household requisites to the rearing of children. The second half of the book is made up of a selection of letters – from earnest agreement to howls of outrage – received by the author after parts of the book had appeared in magazines. The author was the truculent Irish journalist, playwright, bohemian, and man-about-town, Augustus Moore, brother of the novelist George Moore.
Crown 8vo (20cm). viii,(290),[ii]pp. Illustrations by Yorick. Original pictorial cloth; some minor rubbing and wear; endpapers a little spotted; edges lightly tanned; a touch shaken, but a good copy.

£100

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London : Frederick Muller, (1938). First edition. The collected edition of Morton’s ‘Beachcomber’ verses – including some previously unpublished. With illustrations and decorations by Nicolas Bentley. Includes “Horrible Araminta”, “Lovely Big Cow”, “The Danger of Queer Hats”, “Epitaph for a Foolish Lady”, “Song for a Hunted Financier” – and the Zoological Verses: “I think the hippopotamus, Is really almost one of us; Even the way he eats his grub, Reminds me of the Savage Club ...”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). [iv],(160)pp. Original blue cloth, lettered in darker blue; some tanning of endpapers, but a very good, bright and firm copy in the original Nicolas Bentley dust-jacket – a design in orange, white, yellow and black – faintly sunned, price-clipped, slightly nicked, small chip from lower panel, and with some small tape reinforcements on verso.

£50

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London : John Lane, The Bodley Head, (1938). First edition : the first issue, printed on slightly thicker stock and in the primary binding of yellow cloth. An engaging anthology – E. C. Bentley, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, and many more – compiled and edited by Denys Kilham Roberts. Illustrated with some arresting images by Victor Reinganum.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (xx),(260)pp. Original yellow cloth, blocked and lettered in dark red; some very faint spotting to covers and edges, but otherwise a very good and bright copy in the yellow, brown and black Reinganum jacket – a little sunned, lightly rubbed and with a few slight nicks.

£40

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London : John Lane, The Bodley Head, (1938). First edition : the second issue, printed on thinner stock and in the secondary binding of grey cloth. An engaging anthology – E. C. Bentley, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, and many more – compiled and edited by Denys Kilham Roberts. Illustrated with some arresting images by Victor Reinganum.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (xx),(260)pp. Original grey cloth, blocked and lettered in dark red; some very faint spotting to covers and edges, but otherwise a very good and bright copy in the yellow, brown and black Reinganum jacket – price-clipped, a little chipped at head, and with some minor repairs and reinforcement.

£20

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London : Dennis Dobson, (1971). First edition. A delightful little squib — “Dr Searle, face to face as always with the sicknesses of twentieth-century society, has now confronted the terrible problem of addiction. In this book he concisely and graphically crystallizes the horror and degradation of those who are slaves to narcotics ... Take a trip with Searle. NB The Addict’s moment of truth has been tactfully concealed from casual gaze by sealing the last two pages”.
Pott 4to (15cm). [40]pp. Coloured illustrations throughout. Original pictorial boards; rear board faintly discoloured; a few spots, but a good copy of a small and ephemeral production — the seal still present.

£20

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London : Martin Secker & Warburg, (1984). First edition : in the primary dust-jacket (designed by Red Ranch). Wilt resurfaces teaching at the Fenland Tech – complications ensue, with drug-dealing, Inspector Flint, accusations of voyeurism, and the local US airbase.
Demy 8vo (23cm). [iv],(236)pp. Original black boards, ruled and lettered in gilt; very good in the original dust-jacket – the principal design in red, black and green on white – just a touch sunned and slightly bruised.

£15

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London : Hamish Hamilton, (1962). First edition : precedes the American edition. A posthumously published collection of twenty-one pieces, including “Menaces in May”, “The Lady from the Land”, “The Manic in the Moon”, etc., with a preface by Helen Thurber.
Demy 8vo (23cm). (xii),180pp. Illustrations by Thurber. Original red boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good copy in the original Thurber dust-jacket – a design in yellow, black and red – also very good.

£25

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London : Faber & Faber, (1992). First edition. The second volume of the Wimbledon trilogy – “a touching and hilarious story of growing up in the suburbs”.
Royal 8vo (25cm). [vi],250pp. Original boards; text a little tanned, but otherwise very good in the Pierre le Tan dust-jacket – price-clipped, but otherwise very good.

£20

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London : William Heinemann, 1892. First edition. “The Old Maids’ Club was founded by Lillie Dulcimer in her sweet seventeenth year. She had always been precocious, and could analyse her own sensations before she could spell. In fact, she divided her time between making sensations and analysing them ...”. Twenty entertaining tales from the annals of the club, including the very funny “Algebra of Love”, “The Man in the Ironed Mask”, “The Old Young Woman and the New”, “The Mysterious Advertiser”, “The Beautiful Ghoul”, etc. – “Two books for the holiday season, to be read lounging in a hammock, or under the shadow of a cliff, are Mr. Zangwill’s ‘Old Maids’ Club’, and Mr. Grossmith’s ‘Diary of a Nobody’. The former is very droll in places ...” (Cheltenham Looker-On, 20th August 1892). “Worth all the inanities of Jerome K. Jerome and all the thin fun of Barry Pain bundled together” (Glasgow Evening Post, 30th June 1892).
Crown 8vo (20cm). viii,326,[ii] + 16pp advertisements dated March 1892. Forty-four amusing illustrations by F. H. Townsend (1869-1920). Original decorative cloth; some minor wear; spine a touch dulled; cloth slightly bubbled; endpapers lightly tanned; a few spots, but a good copy. Contemporary (1892) ownership inscription of C. A. Newman of Cambridge.

£50

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