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The Prince and Betty.
by WODEHOUSE, P. G
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Mills and Boon, Limited,, 1912. Inscribed to his parents in the month of publication First British edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Father and Mother, with love from Plum, May 1912". The author's father, Henry Ernest Wodehouse (1845-1929), was a British magistrate based in Hong Kong, and his mother Eleanor (1861-1941) was the daughter of a vicar. His father's work meant his parents were often abroad, and the young Wodehouse was regularly cared for by aunts and nannies, though in later life he would emphasis his childhood's unremarkableness. "The three essentials for an autobiography are that its compiler shall have had an eccentric father, a miserable, misunderstood childhood and a hell of a time at a public school, and I enjoyed none of these advantages. My father was as normal as rice pudding, my childhood went like a breeze, from start to finish. As for my schooldays at Dulwich, they were just six years of unbroken bliss." The Prince and Betty was first published in the US in February earlier the same year. Though the two editions bear the same title, the British edition tells "a completely different story" from the American, featuring new characters and a new setting, and retaining only a brief romantic episode on the island country Mervo. This copy is a second issue, with 32 pages of terminal advertisements as called for. Provenance: from the collection of the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (1941-2021), with his posthumous bookplate. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover lettered in black, publisher's device to rear cover in black. With 32 pp. of advertisements at the rear. Spine slightly cocked and faded, ends bumped and lightly worn, a couple of marks to front cover, gutter cracked between a few gatherings with traces of early repair, small chip to lower margin of p. 29/30, light foxing to edges and first few leaves, contents otherwise clean. A very good copy. Jasen 16; McIlvaine A15b.2.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter Harrington
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 172486
- Title
- The Prince and Betty.
- Author
- WODEHOUSE, P. G
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- London: Mills and Boon, Limited,
- Date Published
- 1912
Terms of Sale
Peter Harrington
All major credit cards are accepted. Both UK pounds and US dollars (exchange rate to be agreed) accepted. Books may be returned within 14 days of receipt for any reason, please notify first of returned goods.
About the Seller
Peter Harrington
Biblio member since 2006
London
About Peter Harrington
Since its establishment, Peter Harrington has specialised in sourcing, selling and buying the finest quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets. Peter Harrington first began selling rare books from the Chelsea Antiques Market on London's King's Road. For the past twenty years the business has been run by Pom Harrington, Peter's son.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Cocked
- Refers to a state where the spine of a book is lightly "twisted" in such a way that the front and rear boards of a book do not...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Gutter
- The inside margin of a book, connecting the pages to the joints near the binding.
- Gatherings
- A term used in bookbinding, where a gathering of sheets is folded at the middle, then bound into the binding together. The...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- Device
- Especially for older books, a printer's device refers to an identifying mark, also sometimes called a printer's mark, on the...
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