Signed Books & their inscriptions

[Dust Jacket Collector]

£9.99 very well spent, John. I particularly like the letter. I should look on e-bay more often but I’m put off by their less than helpful cataloguing system and the sheer quantity of stuff.

[Black Maria]

1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

£9.99 very well spent, John. I particularly like the letter. I should look on e-bay more often but I’m put off by their less than helpful cataloguing system and the sheer quantity of stuff.

Yes it certainly was Alan . One of my favourite books , I've wanted to own a signed copy for a long time . I don't think he could have signed that many

copies of the original edition as this is the first I've seen . I did buy a copy of the 1944 edition which was inscribed by someone who Lewis had given

the book to when he was stationed at an airfield in Greece during WW2 but he hadn't signed or inscribed it. The letter was a nice surprise and gives

a clue to who the book was given to , it's a while since I last read the book but I assume Mary was the girl who he met in London when he was on

home service duties and the reason why he saw red when trying to locate a Gotha bomber which was attacking London. "Suddenly I realised that

the only person I cared about was down there somewhere in the blackness among those gun flashes , behind that grille of light beams , and that

perhaps one of those bombs might fall on her ".

 

Finding anything decent on e-bay is a bit of a lottery nowadays I agree , although it's a bit of a catch 22 situation in that if the cataloguing system

was better the chances of securing a choice book would probably be worse as more people would be aware of it.

[other ranker]

Not super rare, but a fantastic inscription.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Very nice. I have a signed copy but that’s a rather special inscription.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Not signed but a rather nice association. A common enough book :-

but coming from the library of Clement Attlee :-

Edited 14 June , 2019 by Dust Jacket Collector

[other ranker]

DJC, did you know it was Attlee's book before you bought it?

[Dust Jacket Collector]

1 hour ago, other ranker said:

DJC, did you know it was Attlee's book before you bought it?

It was advertised as such but it was only £30 which seemed reasonable.

[Black Maria]

A good buy . I once picked up a signed copy of Harold Macmillan's 'Winds of Change' for £1 at a charity book sale .

[Michelle Young]

I have a copy of Not So Quiet signed by Helen Z Smith. Apart from that, it's more modern authors like Martin Middlebrook and Richard Holmes. 

[Resurgam13]

Another association copy of "The Truth about the Dardanelles" - this was Randolph Churchill's -

[Black Maria]

10 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

I have a copy of Not So Quiet signed by Helen Z Smith. Apart from that, it's more modern authors like Martin Middlebrook and Richard Holmes. 

Helen Z Smith ( Evadne Price) appears to have led a long and interesting life . I often confuse her book with 'W.A.A.C The Woman's Story of the War ' by

'Anonymous' , who was actually a man .

 

[other ranker]

Resurgam, I have 'Somme Harvest' with the same bookplate. I have heard that Randolph was left Winston Churchill's library and he put his book plate in all the books. So you never know....

[Resurgam13]

Randolph also made his ownership doubly sure by having a bookplate on both front and rear end-papers!

[Dust Jacket Collector]

2 hours ago, Resurgam13 said:

Randolph also made his ownership doubly sure by having a bookplate on both front and rear end-papers!

That rather suggests one of them was stuck over one of Winston’s. Perhaps a little judicious use of steam may be called for ..........?

[MartH]

Try lighter fluid or better still label lifter.

[seaJane]

15 hours ago, Black Maria said:

Helen Z Smith ( Evadne Price) appears to have led a long and interesting life .

George Simmers on the Great War Fiction blog has done much work trying to disentangle her (indeed interesting) life and work.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

On 14/06/2019 at 17:55, other ranker said:

DJC, did you know it was Attlee's book before you bought it?

Since posting this I’ve been reading up on Attlee’s remarkable WW1 career. It seems he was the penultimate man to leave the Gallipoli peninsula. So perhaps a rather more significant find than I first thought.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

A not uncommon book although distinctly scarce in its jacket. This copy was inscribed by Kingham in 1969 (or could be 1960). The writing looks distinctly shaky suggesting he was quite old. I can find nothing on the author online. Does anyone have anything further?

[Uncle George]

Just the details from MIC:

 

 

[Uncle George]

Search of BMD, 1880 to 1900, reveals only one candidate: William Randolph Kingham, born St Alban’s, Hertfordshire,  December 1886.

[Guest]

On 15/06/2019 at 08:33, Resurgam13 said:

Another association copy of "The Truth about the Dardanelles" - this was Randolph Churchill's -

 

      The question of "Churchill" bookplates is one that gets the Churchill collectors going.  After the death of WSC, it seems that  Clemmie had a bit of a clear-out at Chartwell and many inscribed  copies to Churchill (of which there were many) were unceremoniously sold off- Even the great George Jeffery on the bookstalls in the Farringdon Road had some one Saturday morning long ago (c.40 odd years back)-I still have one.  WSC had also had a number of quite ordinary books bound in a cheapish (usually green from my experience) leather. Alas, to anonymise their sell-off, Clemmie (or others) helpfully tore the front endpapers out.  So if one comes across a leather-bound  book, with "W.S.C." stamped on the front cover (usually at an angle, bottom outside edge) but lacking front free endpaper, then do not dismiss it too lightly as just another damaged book. The damage itself has provenance.

 

  As regards the Attlee bookplate-nice indeed , the more so on a  Gallipoli book. The only one I have is topical as well- Vol.I of  Alan Bullock's Life of Ernest Bevin. I believe the books were sold off in London not long after Atlee's death without and fanfares-just another clearance of deceased effects. Mine was bought from a bookshop in Blackheath

[seaJane]

16 minutes ago, Uncle George said:

Search of BMD, 1880 to 1900, reveals only one candidate: William Randolph Kingham, born St Alban’s, Hertfordshire,  December 1886.

Can confirm from various library catalogues that William Randolph Kingham was the author. In 1923 he was co-author of the book The Assistant Master: A Guide to the Profession of Secondary Teaching, published by Methuen. 

 

Searching Hertfordshire County Archives http://calm.hertfordshire.gov.uk/calmview/ for his full name brings up two records, but I suspect that being dated 1892-1907 they may relate to his father, who was evidently a tobacconist in Victoria Street, St Albans.

 

sJ

[Uncle George]

Kingham - BMD tells us he died in Hillingdon, June 1970.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Uncle George & Sea Jane, very many thanks for the info. It looks as if he was 83 when he signed my copy. Just noticed that Cyril Falls gives the book 2 stars - it’s certainly a fine account.

[David Filsell]

Feeling  rather chuffed by a signed copy of The Poetical Works of Gilbert Frankau  Vol 1 which arrived today - a limited edition of 310 copies and an inexpensive purchase. He is by no means in the top rank of GW poets, and no longer widely known or remembered as an author, although his books were highly sucessful. Amongst other things, he wrote both poetry and humorous 'rhymes' for the Wipers Times, a  worthwhile volume of biography and three GW based novels, one of which Peter Jackson Cigar Marchant I regard highly. On scanning the new arrival, the poems The Voice of the Guns and Gun-Team seem very worthwhile if little known. They certainly do not seem to be included in any of the various GW poetry compilations on my shelves. 

Edited 15 September , 2019 by David Filsell