Great War Dust Jackets
Recent additions
Aitken’s History of the CEF on p.1
Mons to 1933 on p.18
Pemberton ‘Her Wedding Night’ on p.23
Gallipoli Adventure on p.13
The NZ Tunnelers on p.22
The People who Run on p.28
Armageddon anthology on p.18
Baseball to Boches on p.32
Richards ‘Tales of the Great War’ on p.24
Maxwell’s Naval Front on p.20
Pershing’s ‘Memoirs’, UK ed. on p.25
Czernin ‘In the World War’ on p.9
History of the Canturbury Regiment on p.12
South Wales Borderers on p.2
Gen. Allen’s Rhineland Journal on p.1
Capt. Walker in Damaraland on p.29
Jamaica in the War on p.9
UK ed of ‘Farewell to Youth’ on p.16
Artists Rifles & Wards in War-
‘Surrendered’ by Comm. Griffith on p.14
Strange Tales from the Fleet on p.17
In Kut & Captivity on p.25
Fennah’s ‘Retaliation’ on p.12
Great Irishmen in War on p.17
Barrie’s ‘Echoes of the War’ on p.3
Harvey ‘Soldier’s Sketches’ on p.14
Fuller ‘Army in my Time’ on p.13
Occupation of Constantinople on Officials p.
Wolff’s ‘Eve of 1914’ on p.32
US ed. of ‘Germany at Bay’ on p.19
Lichnowsky ‘Heading for the Abyss’ on p.18
Read’s ‘Auguries’ on p.24
War Office at War on p.12
Indiscretions by Brownrigg on p.6
A Sub & A Submarine on Children’s p.
Barbusse ‘Thus & Thus’ on p.2
UK 1st of Duhamel’s ‘Civilisation’ on p.10
Bourro, Soldier of France on p.25
Peel’s ‘How we lived then’ on p.23
The Spy in the Navy on p.18
Constance Maud’s French Year on p.19
Memories of France by Clara Neale on p.22
Stealthy Terror on p.12
Admiral Gaunts memoirs on p.13
Massey on Allenby on p.19
West’s ‘Fight for the Argonne’ on p.30
Storr’s ‘Orientations’ on p.27
UK edition of Ibanez ‘Four Horsemen’ on p.16
On the Anzac Trail on p.1 & Series p.
The Undying Story on p.22
Go to
As the number of books on the site has become so great I have created a new page listing my Top 20 memoirs for those of you who don’t want to plough through the whole lot!
Also including Hager & Taylor’s list of their 20 most important War novels
A new feature. Follow the above link to a page listing those books I’m most keen
to buy. 1st UK editions only in their original dust jackets. I can pay through PayPal
which is simple and safe to sign-
Images from Lesley Smiths’ ‘Four Years Out of Life’
1st December
Thanks to Grant Morrow for finding this super jacket for John Gillam’s novel of Gallipoli. A nice collection of War stories from Max Pemberton. An autobiography of a blinded officer which I’ve had for years but failed to include & Sir Max Aitken’s account of the Canadian Forces.
18th October
A scarce book from the nurse, Violetta Thurstan, on the War’s refugees in Russia ; a good anthology of War literature which I’d not seen before : an account of NZ Sappers & an American journalists tale of a Baseball player who goes to the front.
19th September
Wow! That was a long gap! Basically I’ve not come across many images worth recording
-
,29th June
A particularly interesting account of General Botha’s campaign against the German forces in South West Africa (now Namibia); General Allen’s account of the Occupation of the Rhineland & a couple of routine Regimentals. Fellow collectors may wish to know that the late John Farrow’s collection is now in the hands of our favourite dealer & that a number of catalogues of them will be appearing over the next few months.
22nd June
Back to a normal 4 book inclusion (it may not last!). A jacket for the Artists Rifles Roll of Honour ; a rather nice, if sadly foxed, humorous account of hospital life during the War ; the UK edition of Storm Jameson’s novel of life after the War & a scarce account of Jamaica's part in it.
15th June
Sorry for the long delay -
21st April
Gleaned from the latest Turner Donovan Catalogue is this dreadful but exceedingly scarce jacket for Major Sandes ‘In Kut & Captivity’. What induces people to glue the jacket to the cloth is beyond me!
7th April
Finally stirred out of my lethargy by this stunning jacket -
I’d like to record here the passing in February of this year of one of my original
and most helpful contributors -
13th February
A mixed bag consisting of the UK editions of J.M.Barrie’s collection of plays on the War ; J.F.C.Fuller’s thoughts on the Army; Irish Politicians in the War & a super Canadian jacket for Harvey’s ‘Soldiers Sketches’.
6th January 2023
A few more improved images for books that have now come into the collection. I must put together a ‘Gallant Legion’ page.
18th December
A couple of improved images, as shown.
15th NovemberJust a single entry today is this new offering from Peter Harrington’s. I wasn’t aware that the Official History volume on Constantinople had seen the light of day prior to the N & M issue of 2010 but it seems I was wrong. This typewritten version was issued in an edition of 51 copies in 1944. There is a copy in the War Office archives & several in the IWM, but this appears to be the only one to reach the market. Clearly I should have it to add to what I thought was my complete collection but at £4750 I’ll have to pass. At least we now have a record of it!
21st October
I’m particularly pleased to have found this copy of Herbert Read’s ‘Auguries of Life & Death’. Privately published in 1919 to mark the death of his brother Charles at Beaurevoir in France on October 5th 1918. It’s Read’s first published War poem & I’m only able to trace one other copy in a library in Australia. Plus 3 books of historical analysis of the War.
6th September
Mostly mine today. I’m particularly fond of the Brownrigg. Fascinating account of trying to keep a lid on the press during the War. This copy most warmly inscribed to the artist Muirhead Bone whom Brownrigg helped gain access to Naval ships at the time. The Barbusse is a series of essays, many dealing with the mistreatment of soldiers. Plus an evocative jacket for a Percy Westerman & some reminiscences from the War Office.
1st August
Following the auction of the remains of Henry Williamson’s library at Strides Auction in Chichester last week, I thought readers might like to know that one of the 2 major lots of WW1 books was bought by our favourite dealer, Tom Donovan. He’ll be publishing a catalogue of the books in a few months time but if you’re interested in any particular book Tom would be happy to discuss it with you. Below are a few of the books I bought. The Max Plowman (Mark VII) was given to Williamson by Douglas Bell, author of the anonymously published ‘Soldier’s Diary of the Great War’ for which Williamson wrote the introduction. He’s also marked a few passages for inclusion in his Philip Madison books.
26th July
John Ferguson was a Scottish Cleryman who wrote detective novels & some War poetry (On Vimy Ridge). This novel has been likened to Buchan’s 39 Steps & involves German spies during the War. Clara Neale was a Unit administrator of the QMAAC who here reflects on Wartime France alongside Constance Maud’s book covering similar themes. She was a delegate of the Red Cross in France. And to finish a Wartime spy novel from Dudley Lenton.
19th June
4 new entries but, sadly, none of them mine. Perhaps Monday’s new Turner Donovan
catalogue will provide some goodies. We have Ronald Storrs’ memoirs -
8th June
The Gaps get longer! Waiting for something memorable to turn up & it has! Always really pleased to find any new addition to the ‘Series’ page & ‘On the Anzac Trail’ is one such. It’s a first hand account by a New Zealand Sapper who sadly remains anonymous although he probably gives enough information for a determined genealogist to track him down. Plus the UK edition of Ibanez ‘Four Horsemen’.
13th May
Firstly, a British journalist imprisoned in Ruhleben sees the German Revolution at first hand, then an American family in New York & the War’s effect on them, plus another history of 1914 & the story of the BEF from Mons to 1st Ypres.
27th April
Firstly, an example of the reuse of a jacket, an overview of the Dardanelles Campaign, a scarce jacket for Haig’s Command & the autobiography of a prominent Scout leader & his small part in the War.
4th April
Another long delay due mostly to the lack of interesting books coming to the market. Only the first one is mine & although its author was a Naval cadet during the War he saw no action, so the book is mostly concerned with the aftermath. Plus a history of the American Red Cross in the War; The Story of the 48th Battalion, A.I.F. & and the life of Kitchener’s assassin, Fritz Duquesne.
7th March
No excuse for the delay other than having Covid for the last few weeks. Also not wishing to think about War related things in the present climate. Anyway here are few colourful covers from Nelson’s Continental Library series which reprinted some of their earlier War books. They were not for sale in the UK , US or Canada. They’re at the foot of this page.
22nd January
Today there are 3 nice jackets from the excellent Babylon Revisited website plus
1 from me, Harold Chapin’s Letters. Chapin was an American dramatist who served as
a Lance-
7th January 2022
And a Happy New Year to you as well. Today we have 2 books courtesy of Maj.Gen. Peter
Lambert -
24th December
Firstly a Happy Christmas to both my readers! Secondly an appeal to Internet booksellers
: If you don’t show a picture of the book you’re selling then at least be accurate
with your description. 40 OB was listed as ‘with loss to front cover of dustwrapper’
-
12th December
Having recently acquired some volumes of the Official New Zealand War History I thought
I’d show all 4 volumes together -
25th November
A long gap but 4 books from my collection. Firstly, and a little outside my usual
parameters, is J.L.Hodson’s look back at the War and its aftermath and its effects
on personal relationships, ‘Return to the Wood’ (also slipped in is a copy of his
play ‘Red Night’ which he inscribed to the actress Marjorie Mars who was in ‘Brief
Encounter’.) Then this early account of the Zeppelin Wars (one of the 3 books advertised
on the rear of the original jacket for ‘All Quiet’!). The UK edition of Deval’s humorous
novel ‘Wooden Swords’ which tells of a fierce patriot fighting the War from Paris
& finally Mackay’s ‘Ex-
27th October
Firstly one for the completists amongst you. I've just acquired the later issue of
Bell’s ‘Blockade of Germany’ to go with my original & I thought it would be instructive
to show the two together. 750 copies were printed in 1937 as part of the ‘Official
History of the War’ series but only 100 copies were bound and were only available
to consult on a restricted basis. These were marked ‘Confidential’, one of which
is shown on the left. In 1961 restrictions were lifted & the remaining 650 copies
were bound up & sold mostly, I suspect, to libraries. The binding is slightly different
as is the font size & the word ‘Confidential’ is replaced with the publisher’s name.
The restriction notice on the verso of the title page is covered up by a sticker
indicating the lifting of said restrictions. The text of the book is identical. I’ve
not seen a copy of the original issue for sale since buying mine over 20 years ago
but there are several copies of the 1961 release on the net. Check with the dealer
first though -
14th October
2 editions of the Mata Hari-
29th September
Probably the highlight of the last Turner Donovan Catalogue was this copy of Oliver
Bernard’s ‘Cock Sparrow’. Sorry, fellow collectors, but you have to get up early!
Also this nice copy of Niemoller’s U-
19th September
Just one today but one of my most sought for images. A huge thanks to Grant Morrow for unearthing this gem. Given that by this 5th issue MacGill’s ‘Red Horizon’ had sold nearly 40,000 copies it’s a wonder so few (maybe just 1!) have survived. Now who’s going to find me Sapper’s ‘Human Touch’ ................................
5th September
Still a dearth of decent books around but here’s a few more to add to the collection
-
12th August
A visit to my friendly local bookseller has yielded these two splendid Artillery
memoirs. The Hawks is an excellent account of Battery life at the front, more as
a diary than letters. Strangely, for a privately printed volume, it went into a second
edition. The Buckland is later, from 1940, & is a straightforward narrative of the
doings of the Brigade Artillery. Plus a memoir of a War-
5th August
Sorry for the delay -
4th July
Here we have the signed, limited edition of Herbert Buckmaster’s (of Buck’s Fizz
fame) ‘Buck’s Book’ which contains around 80 pages of his war-
27th June
Firstly a lovely jacket on the US 1st of Patrick Macgill’s ‘Brown Brethren’ from
Seamus Taaffe , plus a book I’m surprised wasn’t here already, Edmund Candler’s 2-
15th June
Sorry for the long gap -
27th April
A couple of mine to start of with from the latest E.J.Morten Catalogue (they now
have a website & an e-
11th April
A novel about the Russian Revolution as seen from a Russian Battleship; Herbert Asquith’s biography of his father but with much on his own War service; a cheap edition of Hall’s ‘Kitchener’s Mob’ & an improved image of Rene Roy’s ‘Night’s Candles’ which tells of his life after being blinded at the Chemin des Dames.
21st March
4 recent purchases today. Firstly the Canadian edition of Manning Coles ‘Drink to
Yesterday’, one of the few books here which is a Haycraft/Queen Cornerstone, i.e.
a detective novel of outstanding significance, an improved copy of Dwinger’s ‘Army
Behind Barbed Wire’, the diary of the ex-
14th March
Prompted by an enquiry from a visitor to the site I thought I’d show these 4 early editions of Ernst Junger’s ‘In Stahlgewittern’. The 1st from 1920 was privately printed and is essentially his diary from the front. It was revised in 1922 and then another edition from the same year and finally a further revision, this one from 1935.
28th February
Only 1 today, but a particularly scarce one. The first of ‘Trooper Bluegum’s’ 3 volumes of War memoirs/letters. He wrote them for the Sydney Morning Herald whilst serving as a lieutenant with the 2nd Light Horse Brigade in Gallipoli. He died shortly after the War ended in 1919 and is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery.
10th February
3 today. Nobel Prizewinner Romain Rolland’s collection of essays on the War, a look at the YMCA’s activities at the front by Bishop Wilson & an account of the activities of an old ship which was recruited into the War to search for submarines. Despite being equipped with depth charges they were unused as she was too slow to escape from the blast.
3rd February
Just a couple today as I’m still testing out the system. Both mine though. The first is a War Correspondent’s view of the Battle of the Marne from 1920. Not a bad account with plenty of excellent maps. And then Captain Evans (of the ‘Broke’) account of his Naval service during the War, this one having no maps at all which would have been a help. Mostly patrolling the Dover Straits.
28th January
For some time I thought I’d be unable to update this site ever again. My Website host, Strato, have altered their upload protocol from ftp to sftp. Sadly the program that this site is written in, Webplus 10, no longer exists & is incapable of operating sftp. That means going through an intermediary program which is far less simple to use. Consequently updates will be even less frequent than at present. I shall continue working on the problem & the site will remain active so patience will be required all round.
6th January 2021
A New Year & hopefully better than the last. The gloom of 2020 was hardly lifted
by any significant book purchases ; dealers presumably unable to view much in the
way of new stock. So lets start the year with a seemingly strange addition -
13th December
‘Wooly’ Robertson gives his views of some of the other leading figures of the War ; Vera Brittain has her poems collected, Lena Ashwell gives a spirited look at Wartime entertainments & a memorial volume to an American Flyer.
6th December
My Birthday! Hooray.(if anyone wants to buy me a present, Christie’s have an auction
on Wednesday where they have an exceedingly rare copy of Rosenberg’s ‘Night & Day’.
Don’t let the estimate of £17-
30th November
The only noreworthy book today is Lt. Col. Head’s ‘No Great Shakes’. The Colonel had a most remarkable career which took him from the Boxer Rebellion in China to South Africa at the tail end of the Boer War. Thence to Ireland, on to India then Gallipoli & finally to the Western Front. The Gielgud only touches briefly on the end of our War being mostly set during the Polish revolution a half century earlier. And finally a general overview of America’s part in the War.
13th November
Hopefully I’m back in business. My web hosting service, Strato, decided to change the uploading protocols without informing me. I despaired of ever getting back in, but I’ve managed to change back to the old system (not secure they say but as there’s no financial aspect to this site it hardly matters). I may disappear again without warning, so every post may be my last.
Today there’s a nice copy of the UK 1st of Koppen’s ‘Higher Command’ & a couple of awful copies of the Manchester’s history & an early book on zeppelins.
3rd November
Today I’ve put on a new page which lists my WW1 Poetry Collection. The original was illustrated but my pc couldn’t manage to transfer the pictures as well so for now it’s just text.
19th October
Just the one today inspired by the latest Turner Donovan Catalogue. It’s General
Dyer’s account of one of the War’s more obscure fields of conflict on the borders
of Baluchistan & Persia -
2nd October
A couple of Regimentals I’ve had for some time -
19th September
The companion volume to the previous entry has just arrived so I’ve added it to the last post. Military Operations : Italy, the last volume of the Official History to be published in 1949, here inscribed by Edmonds to Churchill & with Randolph’s bookplate. It also has a scribbled note, presumably to Churchill, reminding him to thank Edmonds for the copy.
14th September
No jacket but probably the most important copy of the Rhineland Occupation there is. Only 100 copies were printed in 1944 after much controversy. This copy is inscribed by Edmonds to Winston Churchill. They knew each other well, Edmonds having advised Churchill on the writing of parts of ‘The World Crisis’. According to Edmond’s autobiography in later life they played golf together. As with many of Churchill’s books his son Randolph put his bookplate in them after his father’s death.
6th September
Time restricts me to just this single addition today. Although quite a common book & probably falling short of ‘The Truth’, I’ve not seen the jacket before which largely mimics the cloth beneath.
28th August
Firstly, Irene Castle’s memorial to her husband Vernon. The couple were world famous
Ballroom dancers in the years immediately preceding the War. Although they lived
in the States, Vernon was born in Norwich & joined the RFC in 1916, spending the
best part of a year over the front. He returned to America as an instructor where
he was killed in a training accident. The book contains numerous War-
19th August
A History of the 8th North Staffs, another of the Yankee Division, a ‘Humorous Novel’ by Arthur Guy Empey & Lt. Kindell’s account of fighting in Palestine with the 20th Machine Gun Squadron.
1st August
Firstly 2 books by F.C.Cooper of the South African Rifles. On Safari concerns his exploits in the East African campaign & Khaki Crusaders his time in Palestine. First rate accounts sadly never published in the UK. Nursing in Wartime was published only a few weeks after the War began. Most of what Nurse Oxford has to say still seems relevant today. Finally Granville Fortesque’s account of the War in France.
13th July
Down to earth after the excitement of Persia. A couple here from Tom’s Gallipoli
catalogue -
2nd July
The arrival of a rare copy of ‘Operations in Persia 1914-
23rd June
Firstly, a splendid new Catalogue from Tom Donovan on the Gallipoli Campaign. This
is in his new format which is fully illustrated & interactive. Could be a classic.
On here we have a nice set of Lloyd George’s War Memoirs from Peter Harrington, common
enough but scarce in jackets. A further part of Joseph Altsheler’s War trilogy &
The Unbroken Line by Allen Warner -
7th June
Just for a change, all the new additions are mine. A slightly improved Skilbeck Smith, a fine copy in its jacket and cardboard case of Vol.7 of the Official German History, a review of Churchill’s War record up to & including the Dardanelles & a rarely seen jacketed copy of Col. Trew’s account of General Botha’s campaign in German South West Africa. Plus I’m expecting a really special Turner Donovan catalogue on the Gallipoli campaign around 15th June.
29th May
Nothing of great interest has come in lately so here’s a bit of shameless self promotion. This weeks Antiques Trade Gazette has a special supplement on the rare books trade, to coincide with the now cancelled Book Fair week in London. The highlight of the issue is obviously this interview with yours truly. Who said collecting old books wasn’t cool!
10th May
All gloom & doom here washed away by 2 things ; the opening of Garden Centres on
Wednesday & the arrival of a book I never thought to see -
3rd May
There seem to be fewer and fewer books on the market at the moment. I suppose most dealers are unable to get out to view potential new stock. These images I’ve had for a while, only 1 of them being mine. So we have an earlier account of the Campaign in France & Belgium & the UK version of ‘Women of the War’, plus the words of Marshal Foch & further doings of Pershing’s troops.
26th April
It must be 6 weeks now. Given that I spend most of my time searching for & buying rare books, reading, watching films & gardening, I’m not sure my life has changed all that much. Anyway here’s another 4 for you, the most important of which is Capt. Barrett’s ‘Diary of an Australian Soldier’ who was a private in the Australian Field Ambulance & was later commissioned into the Royal Fusiliers. He was killed in April 1917.
10th April
4 splendid jackets designed by Edward Blampied supplied by Andrew Hall. This link should take you to his excellent website on the artist.
2nd April
3rd week of isolation -
18th March
I wonder if books will arrive coated in Covid-
11th March
Thought I’d put this one up on its own -
4nd March
Firstly Arthur Murray’s diplomatic efforts in the aftermath of War, then Pershing’s
Chief-
18th February
Another Battalion History but this one more readable than many being largely based around a series of articles written for Punch by one of its officers. He Died Again is a peculiar novel in which the Unknown Soldier rises from his grave to try and prevent the world from walking into another War. Plus the US edition of MacDonagh’s ‘Irish at the Front’ & a War memoir from Crown Prince William.
9th February
Firstly a couple of Divisional Histories. Both excellent accounts, that on the 40th
has quite a lot on Brig.Gen. Crozier. The 56th is by Dudley Ward who wrote the accompanying
volume on the Welsh Regiment of Foot Guards. Ford’s ‘Antwerp’ was a pamphlet issued
by the Poetry Bookshop in 1915. Not in a jacket as such but in its splendid Wyndham
Lewis cover, it needs to be here as part of the Ford grouping. It’s been called the
first great modernist poem & I’d dearly love to have a copy. It’s particularly elusive,
this one coming from Betram Rota’s Ford catalogue of 2013. It was £650 -
31st January
An account of the Intelligence services in the Canadian Corps, a rather appalling
copy of the history of some of the Manchester Battalions, a memoir from the first
Rabbi to serve with the American Forces & the Map volume only of Sir Archibalds Murray’s
Despatches. He was C-
23rd January
I bought the Peter Kyne, Silent Comrade, thinking it one I didn’t have, but it turns out to be a retitled ‘They Also Serve’ for the UK market. Nice to have both printings I suppose albeit at a cost! The Farrell is a collection of splendid watercolours, some of the best I’ve come across.
John Reed’s account of the Russian Revolution may be peripheral to the War but is certainly a direct consequence of it so deserves inclusion here.
8th January 2020
Lots of new things for the New Year. An early account of the War & its impact on
the Near East ; an account of the War & Revolution from an Officer in the Czar’s
Chevalier Guards; a novel of a country doctor at War & an escape memoir from an Artillery
Officer in the Austro-
30th December
Following on from the last entry, Israel Cohen’s is probably the first account of life in the prison for interned British civilians. I don’t actually have it yet as it’s on its way from Australia. Also a history of the A.E.F. from Shipley Thomas, a novel of Naval espionage from early in the War and the War Memories of 2nd Lt. Frank Holden.
17th December
Christmas induced lethargy means only a single book today. A not uncommon one but
with a distinctly scarce jacket -
3rd December
Firstly H.Gregory’s rare account of his time in the MGC, 40th Div. He won the MM at Bourlon Wood & was captured during the German advance of 1918. He suffered greatly during his captivity, his wounds going untreated & was forced to work in a salt mine. Then we have an improved image of Heinz’ ‘Loretto’, another of William Le Queux’ many War novels & a little more from the American War correspondent, Frederick Palmer.
25th November
Really pleased to have found another of the ‘On Active Service Series’ in a jacket.
Ashmead-
18th November
With the Zionists in Gallipoli was here before as a colonial issue ; this is the
UK edition. It came from the recent auction of the late Bob Wyatt’s collection. Plus
we have an overview of India’s contribution to the War & one of the many Gift Books
issued during the early years to raise funds for various charities -
11th November
Just one for Armistice Day -
4th November
3 more novels from William le Queux today. A remarkable character, serial liar & amazingly prolific author. During the War years alone he produced over 50 books.
27th October
Manwaring’s ‘If We Return’ is the 2nd edition from 1919 which is expanded to include
additional letters that take us up to the Armistice. Mussolini’s War Diary details
his career as a Sergeant on the Italian Front before being invalided out with Syphilis.
Buddies in Budapest is a narrative by an American Nurse in Hungary before the US
entry into the War. And finally an account of the Battle of Tannenberg. These 3 are
all courtesy of one of our American contributors, Dave Golomon -
20th October
The US edition of Aladar Kuncz’ account of being interned by the French throughout the War in increasingly harsh prisons. A scarce jacket on Buchan’s memorial volume to the Grenfell brothers (I dithered over buying it for a few days & then it was gone!) & a copy of Norman Wilkinson’s pictures of Gallipoli. He served in a submarine during the campaign & later was the inventor of ‘dazzle’ paint camouflage. The jacket has been cut down slightly and stuck in the book.
9th October
Just back from cruising around Scandinavia to find this stunner waiting for me. Stanton
Hope served as a Lieutenant in the Drake Battalion of the Royal Naval Division &
served for 6 months in Gallipoli before being evacuated on the last night, 8 -
23rd September
Just one today but such a lovely period jacket from future Sci Fi author, W. Douglas Newton. No idea what it’s about as it doesn’t figure in any of my bibliographies. There seems to have been a sequel, Phillip & the Flappers. Many thanks to Grant Morrow for this one.
15th September
I’m afraid my supply of important War books has rather dried up lately so it’s down to these. A couple of American novels from Dorothy Canfield & Gertrude Atherton, another Naval book from Lewes Freeman & another anthology of War poetry from Vincent Burns.
6th September
The Diary of Otto Braun is a German Memorial volume to the officer & poet killed on the Somme in 1918. Carry On is a series of letters from the author of ‘Love of an Unknown Soldier’. Plus a novel of traumatised youth during the War & a German appreciation of the War’s Generals.
27th August
Too hot to spend long at the computer, so we have a couple of volumes of War verse, General Crozier’s time in Nigeria before the War (some rather disturbing photo’s of his dispensing discipline to the natives) & a Captain’s account of his spiritual crises during his time at sea.
8th August
A couple of replacement images due to a change of ownership and therefore improved
images. I thought ‘Hard Lying’ might be part of a series from Herbert Jenkins as
its jacket design is the same as that for Franz Joseph’s ‘Emden’ & Carpenter’s ‘Blocking
of Zeebrugge’ , but it seems they used the same design for most of their non-
28th July
A couple of books of War Poetry from Laurence Binyon. The Four Years collects the poems from ‘The Winnowing Fan, The Anvil & The New World’ with a few additional ones. Oddly, this anthology was priced at 7/6 which would have been very expensive in 1919, three times the usual price for a volume of Poetry. Plus a novel of a young lady wandering in the War Zone from the Williamson’s & the notes of a US Diplomat from Paris & the Front.
20th July
Mostly Unit Histories today. The 8th Division is an improved image ; Chalmers on
the 16th HLI goes with his later history of the 15th ; Haigh’s ‘Life in a Tank’ is
a slightly worse image but it is mine (all of £6 from eBay) & Ogilvie’s History of
the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry. It’s worth noting with most Unit histories that the originals
are so much better than the modern reprints -
11th July
Sorry for the delay -
*(usually means I’ve bought the copy that was here & scanned it properly!)
23rd June
For a change all of today’s books are from my own collection. I was particularly
pleased to find ‘Dixmude’, part of Heinemann’s ‘Soldiers Tales of the Great War’
series even with the rather heavy postage costs from the US. The Morgan is a fairly
typical piece of anti-
15th June
A bit of a cop-
27th May
Today we have Hurd’s history of the Cunard line during the War, a very Deco cover for a novel which ends briefly in Flanders Fields, an assessment of the effectiveness of the US Army Signal Corps activities & the Memoirs of Lord Gleichen who was with the Grenadiers at Omdurman, fought in the Boer War & commanded the 37th Division in France.
16th May
Sorry this update is so late but there’s an awful lot of gardening to do at this time of year!
I was alerted to the Stephen McKenna volume by an excellent book ‘Publishers, Readers and the Great War’ by Vincent Trott. The McKenna is actually set just after the War & tells of the political turmoil that followed. Both these copies can be had from Babylon Revisited.
The Tom Bevan (from Maggs) is part of a long series of War stories aimed at a juvenile audience plus the UK edition of Gibbs ‘Realities of War’ which supposedly tells the true story that the author was prevented from revealing during the War itself.
24th April
American youth seemed to have had an insatiable appetite for stirring adventure books
during the War. The Moving Picture Boys series here joins numerous other similar
series. Plus a discussion on War-
12th April
Firstly Sir George Arthur’s monumental 3-
31st March
Firstly a 1st US jacket for Sapper Dorothy Lawrence courtesy of Maggs Booksellers. This remarkable woman joined the 179th Tunnelling Co., 51st Div., but only served for 10 days at the front before being arrested. Sadly her remaining days were spent in a lunatic asylum before dying in 1964. A rare survivor but perhaps a trifle dear at £750. A UK 1st of Werner’s account of working in a base hospital in Normandy, a later edition of Hodgson’s poetry, this copy inscribed by his sister, & Jeffery Day’s Poems.
24th March
A big thank you to John Etheridge & Grant Morrow for supplying the first two of today’s
images. Denis Garstin, brother of Crosbie, fought with the 10th Hussars & was killed
on the Russian Front in 1918. His stories are almost certainly based on real events.
Eye Witness gathers various accounts of the War from the Marne to Neuve Chapelle.
Plus two post-
19th March
A late addition to the previous entry is this superb example of Brooke’s ‘1914 & Other Poems’ which has just come my way. I don’t think I’ve seen a finer copy!
17th March
Here’s a novelty picked up yesterday at the Lewes Book Fair -
4th March
Shortage of fresh images compels me to put in an improved jacket for the Abbe Klein’s account of working in a French Hospital during the War. Perhaps rather too much religion but some rather moving descriptions of the wounded. A couple of Mildred Aldrich : a later Hilltop & a first US of Peak, plus some Essays from Lewis Freeman.
25th February
Today sees the issue of the first catalogue of books from our sadly missed contributor, David Pritchard, courtesy of Tom Donovan Military Books. David was very diligent in providing me with images of his books so most are already here. However there are a couple which are new for us. Tom promises many more from the collection over the coming months.
17th February
A remarkably futuristic jacket for Charles Codman’s account of his service with the 96th USAS from June 1918 until he was shot down & captured in September of that year. Thanks to Grant Morrow for providing this image. It makes my own contribution, Creswell’s ‘Naval Warfare’ look rather dull. Intended for young officers it gives a general overview, although the bulk of the book concerns WW1. Apparently the warehouse containing unsold stock was bombed in 1940 which necessitated a revised edition to be produced in 1942. Also a deluxe edition of ‘Friends of France’ produced by members of the American Ambulance Unit in 1916.
8th February
The War Diary of the German U-
27th January
Today’s three consist of a selection of colour sketches of the Canadian Front, a
novel about the lives of civilians in war-
A late addition is my newly found copy of Arnold Bennett’s ‘The Roll-
18th January
Gleason’s ‘ War Ambulance’ was here in B&W so now shows a little colour. The author was a War correspondent. Robert Loraine had a very varied career, being an actor, a soldier in the Boer War & a flyer with the RFC. He’s credited with the first use of the word ‘joystick’ to describe a plane’s steering control. Plus the UK edition of ‘Mrs. Fischer’s War’.
9th January 2019
Firstly a small but comprehensive Unit history of the 2/8th Sherwood Foresters written by their commander, Lt.Col.Oates. An excellent account containing full casualty lists & some of the best maps I’ve seen in such a work. Flight Commander’s ‘Cavalry of the Air’ was here already but this is a much improved image. Finally some tales of the 9th Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Highlanders) in 1916.
30th December
3 from the US today, all published in 1918 -
23rd December
A rather atmospheric jacket for J.E.Buckrose (Annie Edith Foster Jameson) ‘War-
16th December
Today’s offerings are 4 rare POW memoirs all from a batch recently posted on-
9th December
I digress today to show this special copy of Fawcett & Hooper’s ‘Fighting at Jutland’
that’s come my way. 3 copies of this original 1920 edition were specially bound.
One in blue Morocco was presented to George V and is in the Royal Collection. The
other two were bound in vellum and presented to the authors. This is Fawcett’s copy
-
3rd December
Peter Martin Lampel’s ‘Youth Betrayed’ isn’t strictly speaking a War book but deals
with the immediate aftermath in Germany. Lampel was a member of the so-
25th Novenber
GHQ by ‘GSO’ is Sir Frank Fox’s account of his service at Haig’s Headquarters at
Montreuil-
18th November
Europe in Zig-
11th November 2018
Armistice Day -
The picture is of Owl Trench, one of the first I visited on the Western Front. Close to Hebuterne on the Somme, it contains the graves of 53 soldiers, 43 of them from the 16th West Yorks, who fell on 27th February 1917 during an attack on the rearguard of the German 31st Division.
4th November
Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the death of Wilfred Owen.
3 books today. One of H.G.Rawlinson’s excellent Histories of the Rajputana Rifles
(his best according to Perkins). Although covering 1805-
28th October
Just one today. Prior to last week there was only a single copy of F.W.Harvey’s account
of his incarceration in a German Prison Camp on ABE when suddenly within the space
of a few days 3 further copies appear. Even stranger, 2 of them have the front panel
of the jacket stuck inside -
23rd October
Sad to report that David Pritchard, one of the major contributors to this site, died earlier this year after a long battle with cancer. Our sympathies go out to his wife, Helen. David had what I believe to be the finest collection of WW1 books in their original jackets that I’ve ever come across. In fact he built up his collection twice, having sold his first one to John Marrin many years ago. It was that collection that gave the early Marrin catalogues such a distinctive and desirable appeal. His ability to source rare & in most cases pristine copies led me to believe he must have had access to some form of time machine which enabled him to visit the original publishers! We are a shrinking band & we shall miss him greatly.
21st October
Firstly the US edition of Ian Hay’s ‘Carrying On’ mimicking the jacket of the UK edition of his previous book. 2 editions of Chlumberg’s play ‘Miracle at Verdun’, based on his service in the German Army on the Italian front. Bizarrely he died by falling into the orchestra pit during rehearsals for this play. And a novel of twin brothers who fight on opposite sides. When one is captured as a spy the other swops places thus sacrificing himself (rather Tale of two Cities!).
4th October
2 new additions to the Memorials page, both from the most recent Turner Donovan catalogue; Douglas Jerrold’s invective against the prevailing disillusion of current War memoirs & a town War record, unusual for retaining its jacket.
19th September
Just a couple of poetry books today but both of great importance. Vera Brittain’s
‘Verses of a V.A.D.’ was here already but this is a vastly superior copy. In fact
it’s hard to imagine a finer as it came with 2 jackets, the outer one keeping the
inner in near perfect condition. Also we have a 1st of Charles Sorley’s ‘Marlborough
& Other Poems’. The first of this rarely appears but having searched long & hard
for it I see a second copy has appeared on ABE barely a week later -
10th September
2 improved images to start of with for Crosse’ ‘Defeat of Austria’ & Falls ‘War Books’. Compton Mackenzie’s ‘Sylvia & Michael’ is here largely on the recommendation of Cyril Falls, who says there are vivid scenes in the novel from the Sebian Defeat and the opening of the Salonika Campaign & ‘Versailles’, to quote from the fly leaf, ‘is an intensely dramatic, brilliantly witty, and bitingly ironical narrative of the Peace Treaty’.
26th August
Firstly a big thank you to Tim Whitcombe for pointing out that the image of Captain Doorly’s ‘In the Wake’ shown on p.10 was actually the rear cover. The proper image is shown below. The King’s Pilgrimage was published in 1922 to commemorate the visit of George V to the cemeteries of France & Belgium. 25,000 copies were printed to raise funds to enable relatives to visit the Graves of their loved ones. It contains an original poem by Kipling who also wrote the King’s speech printed here although not acknowledged as such at the time. Jacketed copies are distinctly rare. Plus some American Secret Service memories & a History of English espionage.
19th August
Bit of a cheat today but this near perfect set of Naval Operations from the Official
History has just arrived courtesy of Ebay. Apart from the odd chip this is as fine
a set as one could imagine -
5th August
Just two additions today but of such importance & scarcity that they get the space
to themselves. Major Donohoe’s ‘With the Persian Expedition’ tells of his accompanying
the Baghdad expedition in 1918 to relieve ‘Stalky’ Dunsterville’s ‘Dunsterforce’
in Iraq. The author was a journalist who was commissioned in the Intelligence Corps
in 1916. Edwin Blackwell’s ‘Romford to Beirut’ is the War record of ‘B’ Battery,
271st Brigade, RFA (1/2nd Essex). Blackwell & his co-
30th July
This history of the Hull Commercials looks interesting but it’s still in the post so I’ve not yet seen it. Judging by the headgear in the photo they were off to the tropics. The jacketless volume is Capt. F.C.Waller’s atmospheric account of his time with the 6th KOSB of the 9th Scottish Division. It covers his home training and from May 1915 to the Battle of Loos where he was wounded during the attack on Mad Point. Privately printed in Winchester in 1917, I doubt it was ever jacketed. Plus Capt. Landau’s account of running the Espionage network La Dame Blanche behind German Lines.
23rd July
Today there are 3 additions to the ‘Memorials’ page. ‘Some Letters from a Subaltern on the Western Front’ gathers the letters of Lt. John Baldwin Hoyle of the 7th South Lancs, Killed in Action on the 1st Day of the Somme ; ‘A Soldier of England’, a memorial to Lt. Leslie Yorath Sanders of the RGA, KIA in March 1917 while attached to the 3rd Field Survey Company of the R.E. & ‘Leaving Rouen for the Somme’, the letters of 2nd Lt. A.E. Coles of the 1st Somerset Light Infantry who fell on the 4th October 1917. Plus the UK edition of Edgar Middleton’s flying stories.
11th July
Charlton’s ‘War from the Air’ is based on a series of lectures given at Trinity College by the Air Commodore. Only a small part concerns WW1 but is of sufficient interest to merit inclusion here. The Naval Blockade is an academic treatise written by a Frenchman dealing with the effect of the Blockade on all countries wether in the War or not. And a collection of reflections on the Western Front by a War Office visitor.
3rd July
No jackets at all today! A scarce early work by the author of ‘A Subaltern’s War’, Charles Carrington, is this history of his Battalion, the 1/5th Warwicks. It may have had a jacket but I’ve not heard of one. Plus another Memorial volume, this time to Geoffrey Blemell Pollard of the RFA, KIA nr. La Bassee in Oct. 1914 & a selection of Poems by Captain Mann of the RAF.
18th June
‘The Man from World’s End’ is a collection of short stories, some involving the War, which is noteworthy for its rather striking jacket. Plus General Hamilton’s attempt to show the public what the army is really like & a journalist’s view of the last years of the War and the Russian Revolution.
4th June
The Cockpit is a collection of flying stories’ some based on fact, including a ‘Biggles’ one from Capt. W.E.Johns. This was supposedly first published in 1934 with 8 illustrations. This edition is from 1936 with presumably new illustrations as these & the jacket are all dated to that year. Plus the Official History of the Otago Regiment of NZ in the War from Gallipoli to Ypres and beyond.
28th May
Just for a change I’ve found 3 books to buy although only one of any real significance
-
20th May
Here we have the story of two American brothers who served briefly in the 2nd Regiment
of the French Foreign Legion in the early part of the War & a series of observations
by the US Ambassador to Denmark from 1907-
13th May
Just 2 again and one of them here already. Col. Weston’s ‘Three Years with the New Zealanders’ isn’t new but a much nicer copy than the existing one. Some interesting original photo’s which I imagine were taken by the author. Plus a German prisoner’s account of various prison camps.
6th May
Just a couple today. A routine history of the Fifth Beds & Herts Regiment at Gallipoli, Egypt & Palestine & the first US edition of Donald Hankey’s letters.
30th April
Sorry for the long delay -
2nd April
Easter brings the memoirs of an American lady trapped in Poland by the German invasion, an account of the disarmament of Germany after the War & two further Memorial volumes to fallen Officers.
25th March
I hadn’t before considered including Brooke’s ‘Letters from America’ on-
18th March
Conan Doyle’s ‘British Campaign in France & Flanders’ used to one of the most ubiquitous of War books although lately it seems to have disappeared (including my own set!). What you never saw were copies in their jackets so I thought I’d show this set which passed through the US auction house ‘Profiles in History’ at the end of last year. It fetched $480 I believe, which seems about right. Not sure how it stands up these days as a reliable account of the War though.
11th March
Today’s mixed bag brings a juvenile naval yarn, a cheap re-
3rd March
More books to chose from for a change, so a normal service can be resumed for a while. Thanks to Grant Morrow for providing the US edition of Cushing’s Surgeon’s Journal, from me Gerald French’s collection of his father’s Diaries & Correspondence & a collection of ghostly tales by Alice Brown the title story of which touches on the War.
22nd February
Enough Munitions already! Here’s one I’ve searched for for just as long (last seen
in Marrin’s Cat.38 at £135) & it pops up for 40 times less than last weeks entry.
To my mind Bucher’s ‘In the Line’ (from the German ‘Westfront 1914-
15th February
Not a jacket in site, but the arrival today of 7 of the 12 volumes of the History of the Ministry of Munitions trumps all else. When I started collecting the Official History I never hoped to find any copies of this ultra rare publication and then 7 turn up at once. 250 copies of the over 50 separate parts were printed, some of which were bound up as 12 volumes. Distribution was strictly limited to Government departments and the like, these from the Ministry of Aviation library. I think the gaps in this set may be permanent!
8th February
Firstly, Bacon’s biography of First Sea Lord and Commander of the Dover Patrol, Admiral
‘Jackie’ Fisher, followed by Major Macfall’s call for no early peace talks with the
Germans prior to their inevitable defeat. Also welcome are two additions from John
Etheridge -
27th January
Only two today & one of those not actually going on the site. Firstly a splendid,
albeit rather damaged, jacket for Aaronsohn’s account of his time as a reluctant
recruit to the Turkish forces as a Palestinian Jew. The jacket is by John Hargrave
who wrote ‘The Pals at Suvla Bay’. Plus the copy of Nichols’ 18th Division history
which I recently acquired. I show it because it belonged to Major-
17th January
Sheer laziness & a particularly virulent winter cold (4 weeks and counting) has limited
me to just one addition today. However as it’s an edition I’ve not seen before that’s
OK. I’d not realised that Empey’s ‘Over the Top’ had been given a UK release, but
given that he did serve in the British Army it’s hardly surprising. Same publisher,
Putnam’s, but a different title, ‘From the Fire Step’. Who knows why -
9th January 2018
Nothing exiting to start the New Year, I’m afraid. The US edition of the 2nd volume
of Mottram’s ‘Spanish Farm Trilogy’, Tom Kettle’s Irish view of the War, Robertson’s
account of the War years as Chief of the Imperial General Staff & his falling out
with Lloyd-
30th December
3 vibrant jackets today to finish off 2017, a year some of us would rather forget!
Guns of Galt with its fine jacket by Herbert Fouts, is a novel largely centred on
the building of a Battleship, the Huascar, & its action in the War. Then a biography
of Admiral von Hipper, who led a group of Battle Cruisers at Jutland & later Commanded
the German High Seas Fleet and finally a re-
18th December
No unseen jackets today, alas, only an improved one for the US edition of ‘The Good
Soldier, Schweik’. I have however been actively tracking down more Memorial volumes,
so here are 3 I’ve recently purchased. The most significant is probably that of Edward
Hornby Shears, Lt. in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards who was killed at Boesinghe
on 4th July 1917. It’s his front line diary for the first 6 months of that year &
is a fine account. Ronald Poulton was a Lt. in the 1/4th Royal Berkshires, killed
nr. Hazebrouk on the 5th May 1915. There are some 50 pages of his letters from France.
Finally a memorial volume not to be found in Tom Donovan’s excellent bibliography
of these books -
10th December
Today’s mixed batch shows another biography of Marshal Foch, a young girls account of her time in Alsace Lorraine during the War, another young lady’s letters from France in the later stages of the War & some military cartoons by Edmund Sullivan.
28th November
Fendall’s account of the formation & activities of the East African Force was a book
previously unknown to me, so when a reasonably priced copy appeared on ABE I snapped
it up -
15th November
Wauchope’s 3-
7th November
I recently had tea in the splendidly old-
29th October
I bought today’s addition at the recent Lewes Bookfair. Haig’s Despatches isn’t a particularly scarce book, even in it’s jacket. What makes this one so special is that Haig has inscribed it to his publisher, J.M.Dent, thanking him for his help in getting it published. I posted it on the Great War Forum where it didn’t attract much interest, but as far as I can determine, books signed by the Field Marshal are few and far between. There weren’t frankly many books for him to sign, there being only this & his 1907 book on the Cavalry to contain all his own words. At £180 it seemed like rather a bargain!
22nd October
Unusual for me to show three volumes of a magazine but this one appears of particular
importance. Published by HMSO & seemingly aimed at the patients and staff of the
various hospitals dealing with disabled servicemen it only survived for 6 months.
This can probably be explained by its late arrival on the scene in August 1918, and
could have been predicted by its failure to attract sufficient advertising -
18th October
Just one today but I was so pleased to see it (courtesy of Geoffrey of the GWF) that
I thought it should stand alone. ‘Retreat from Death’ is a novel concerning a young
soldiers plight during the 1918 March retreat up until the Armistice. Described on
the front flap as ‘different from any other yet published’ (how often have I read
that!) it seems to be rather a ‘marmite’ novel. Often cited as a brutally realistic
account it also attracts totally opposite views, Hager & Taylor calling it ‘a dreary
& depressing view of the War’ (Falls would have hated it!). Although the original
is scarce it was republished in 2005. (I’ve always thought I could easily spot an
American jacket from a UK one, but this had me fooled. It has all the US characteristics
-
11th October
A novel set in Germany at the time of the US entry into the War, a novel of an American lady who spies for Germany, a collection of humorous stories of the US Naval Reserve & some reflections by a Scottish minister of War in the Middle East.
1st October
Douglas Jerrold is probably best known today for his diatribe against the literature
of disillusionment -
24th September
Two accounts today of American Field Artillery units. I can’t speak for that on the
101st but the one on the 305th, written by their CO, Charles Wadsworth Camp, appears
to be a first rate history with many maps & illustrations. Charteris biography of
Haig is the first American edition and we have Ross-
14th September
A shortage of new material accounts for the delay in updating the site lately. Here
today is a fine panoramic jacket for a cheap edition of Georges Duhamel’s French
War novel, admired by Cyril Falls, ‘Civilisation 1914-
29th August
A couple of War novels today from the ever excellent Babylon Revisited book dealers
site and two collections of War poetry -
20th August
Kipling with the British Fleet was a reprint of ‘Fringes of the Fleet’ published separately by 4 American newspapers belonging to the Hearst group in 1916. Plus a collection of Russian State papers for the War years, an account of the relations between Tommys & Doughboys & Yeats Brown’s collection of escape stories through the years.
13th August
The Blunden, below, is really too late for the site having been published in 1957 but it contains many War poems, is a useful anthology of his work & is nicely inscribed by the poet. Plus the true UK first of Falls’ invaluable bibliography, an account by Kathleen Burke of her time in France as an advocate for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals & a rare jacket for the History of Tanks since 1916.
6th August
Not the most exciting of updates today -
30th July
UK & US editions of Blunden’s ‘The Shepherd’, one of his first substantial collections of War poetry. A novel by Escott Lynn, largely based on Lt.Col. Mure’s ‘With the Incomparable 29th’ & the memoirs of General Sir James Willcocks, big game hunting in India & Africa to action of the Western Front..
23rd July
Captain Torossian was an Armenian who fought for the Turks at Gallipoli. Following
the Armenian genocide he switched sides and, consequently, his memoirs have been
dismissed by some Turkish historians although subsequent research has shown them
to be authentic. L.V.Jacks’ ‘Service Record’ tells of his time with the 119th Field
Artillery, 32nd Division in the last year of the War. Lt.Col. Murphy, of the Indian
Army, writes with some authority on the Turkish armies exploits from 1910 -
16th July
3 volumes of poetry today which between them will set you back some £9,000. The Vera Brittain is indeed a scarce volume, particularly in its jacket, but she is a very minor poet so clearly the price is entirely down to ‘Testament’ and not merit. The vendors of the Thomas seem to regard it as a variant 1st but the jacket is clearly for a second issue. I rather think the 1st had a clear glassine one. Plus the US 1st of Sassoon’s ‘Old Huntsman’ & thoughts on the War by a Catholic Nun who was herself a nurse during the conflict.
9th July
Firstly a splendid jacket by Youngman Carter for a novel which is completely new
to me, & I suspect most people, ‘Brother Officers’ by R.P.Morrison, courtesy of David
& Helen Pritchard. Sadly I can offer no information on its contents as none of my
books or the net can enlighten me -
2nd July
3 from me today. The Taffrail is a fifth printing from 1934 with the same image as
the 1st but with the colour palette reduced to a simple blue. The Blunden is a fragment
of trench history written shortly after the War & long before ‘Undertones’. Published
here in a limited edition of 275 copies by his brother. I was expecting a lot from
this rather expensive item but found it rather nondescript in comparison to other
contemporary accounts. ‘One of the Lambs’ is an exceedingly scarce account of Gallipoli
by a Captain in the Queen’s Regiment. At one point he encounters two dead female
snipers -
25th June
Only one picture this week because, a. I’m running low on fresh images, b. I love this scarce Helen McKie jacket & c. It’s too darned hot!
‘Kitchener Chaps’ was published in the first half of 1915 and must be one of the
earliest such collections of War stories. Not based on any real experience of front
line action this type of book was primarily intended to reassure the folks in the
UK that Tommy was carrying on with life much as he did at home. It wasn’t until 1917
that more realistic accounts came to be published. ( A good example is a book called
‘After Victory’ by ‘An Amateur Officer’ from that year which certainly pulls no punches
in its depiction of an attack -
18th June
Hilaire Belloc’s War History was intended to cover the whole conflict but in the end only 2 volumes were produced. He had some knowledge of the military having served as a driver with the French 8th Artillery at the end of the previous century. This is a slightly unusual copy being a UK 1st but in a jacket priced in dollars. Plus the story of a Jewish American forced into service with the Turks, a general history of the War at Sea & an account by an American Captain in the Motor Machine Gun Corps doing service with Allenby in the Middle East.
11th June
Not the most exciting batch today -
4th June
Firstly, Charteris’ ‘At G.H.Q.’. It was here already in b&w but having finally found
a copy you can now see the the glory of its red text! Charteris was Haig’s Head of
Intelligence throughout the War & the book is a series of letters to his wife with
a great deal of gossip thrown in! Plus, the story of a Motor Launch Patrol boat during
the War with some atmospheric drawings by Donald Maxwell, a history of the 42nd ‘Rainbow’
division & a 1930’s re-
28th May
3 from my own collection for a change. I suspect there are numerous accounts of civic involvement in the War, but this one from Birmingham is the first I’ve seen in a jacket. Even the ubiquitous one from Croydon never appears wrapped. Perhaps not the most gripping of reads but there are some interesting details of Munitions manufacture, recruitment etc. & a few noteworthy photos. The R.W.Campbell is a book I’ve long had, it tells of the training of a New Army cadet, but I was very pleased to finally see it in its jacket. A trifle dear, but as it came from the Babylon Revisited site & I’ve been using their images for years, I felt duty bound to buy it. Pity it doesn’t have a more military image but at least it doesn’t have the gormless Spud Tamson on the cover! And finally a jacket for the Punch anthology which I’d thought scarce until three turned up within days of each other. Sadly the cartoons weren’t as funny as I’d hoped.
21st May
Despite my reluctance to buy Unit histories, once I see the description ‘extremely scarce in jacket’ I find it impossible to resist. Usually as dry as dust this one on the 2nd Tyneside Pioneers really is a rewarding read, written by an officer with a genuine appreciation for the hardships undergone by the poor devils building the front line trenches under heavy shellfire. Plus some War themed plays by the author of Peter Pan, the second copy of the History of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry in Palestine to appear on Ebay in as many days (are they printing new ones??) & a splendid, if restored jacket, for the UK edition of Gurdon’s ‘Over & Above’ from the Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC website.
14th May
John Oxenham (William Arthur Dunkerley) was a prolific novelist & journalist, best known now, if at all, from his poetry collection ‘Bees in Amber’. I’ve had the book for years & hoped to see a more militaristic jacket on it but nice to see it anyhow. It’s a novel about 2 couples trapped on the continent after the declaration of War & their subsequent struggles to return home. Oxenham seems to have written 34 novels prior to this one! Maj.Gen. Maurice’s account of the War’s early days was already here as a 1930 edition but this second impression is only a few months after its first appearance in 1919. The US first of Wilfred Owen’s poems seems to be even scarcer in its jacket than the UK one (from William Reece) & the poetry anthology ‘Lest We Forget’ shows just how bad war verse could be prior to the war poets raising their heads.
5th May
A later issue of Clarke Venables ‘Oh Hell’ shows an inventive use of typography, a rather charmingly naive cover for one of the many US childrens series War books, a US edition of the official analysis of all the German Divisions that fought in the War & the War from an American journalists viewpoint.
27th April
Another cheat today, 3 Kipling pamphlets & a Memorial volume. The Kiplings were all issued in September 1914, presumably in an attempt to boost morale. Only ‘For All We Have & Are’ was relatively new, having been first published a couple of weeks previously in The Times. The other 2 date back to the previous century but were doubtless considered to be similarly uplifting. The Memorial volume is to an officer who served in the RFA & RGA who was killed in April 1918. It’s an interesting series of letters describing the workings of a Field Battery.
20th April
Just a couple today as I’m still feeling the effects of the heart drugs. ‘Crucifix Corner’ by the husband & wife authors C.N. & A.M.Williamson tells of a parents search through the battlefields to find where their son fell. I’d never heard of this couple before but it seems they were hugely popular in the early years of the century having already published 24 novels prior to this. ‘The Forty Days (of Musa Dagh)’ tells of the plight of 5,000 Armenians driven into the mountains by the Turks during the War. Apparently it was the first book to address this tragedy. The author is now best known for his ‘Song of Bernadette’, the basis of the Hollywood film.
9th April
A.G.Hales was an Australian War Correspondent & Boer War veteran who settled in London
& wrote a long series of novels about a bible-
2nd April
Bit of a cheat today, 4 books by the same author. William Le Queux was a strange character, author, journalist, supposed expert on espionage. His output was prodigious, particularly during the War years. He was so convinced of the authenticity of his depictions of the German command that he thought he would become a target for assassination, demanding Police protection, which was refused. The books are largely fictional with a little inside knowledge thrown in.
30th March
Sorry for the long delay but getting over this is proving harder than I expected.
The following are now on their correct pages. Tuohy’s ‘Battle of Brains’ is a collection
of his espionage stories. Can’t find much information on him other than to say he
was a journalist prior to the War & served as a Captain in the intelligence services.
He wrote 5 books relating to the War of which 3 are here. I bought the Dunsterville
thinking it a title I didn’t have but it’s merely a re-
15th March
I’m afraid the next update will be delayed. Last week I suffered a heart attack & have had six stents inserted so I’m still feeling too weak to do much. These are the next books to be entered but as yet they’re not on their respective pages.
5th March
Having finally managed to visit the excellent Paul Nash exhibition at Tate Britain,
I was particularly pleased to find this copy of Richard Aldington’s ‘Images of War’
with illustrations by the artist. I’m not sure Aldington’s Imagist poetry has stood
the test of time -
26th February
James Hanley’s self-
19th February
I’ve been actively collecting Memorial volumes lately, so for a change there are no dust jackets at all. We have Edward Anthony Steel, Lt.Col. with the RHA & RFA, Frederick Courtney Selous, Captain in the 25th Royal Fusiliers, James Logan Mackie, Captain in the Ayrshire Yeomanry & that scarce volume from the poet Charles Sorley, ‘Letters from Germany & the Army’.
12th February
All of today’s additions are shamelessly taken from the latest Turner Donovan catalogue 149. Details can be seen on their website.
5th February
Berta Ruck’s ‘Years for Rachel’ is a love story set during the War in which a long
engagement is ending in favour of another. Described in Hager & Taylor as ‘unimaginative
& banal’. Journalist Geoffrey Young’s ‘From the Trenches’ is described, like several
others’ as the first account of the fighting. The elusive jacket has been cut down
& stuck inside the book (another ex-
29th January
Two scarce UK editions of famous US novels today -
22nd January
I don’t know why I didn’t have copies of Graves’ ‘Country Sentiment’ here before
-
15th January
Firstly a very scarce jacket on Capt. Wedgwood Benn’s memoir, ‘In the Side Shows’. Father of Tony Benn & winner of both the DSO & DFC, he joined the Middlesex Yeomanry at the age of 37, becoming an Observer with the RFC & saw service in Gallipoli & over the Piave. ‘Unsought Adventure’ is the autobiography of Charles Barry (Bryson) who served with the Imperial Russian Horse Artillery & later as a spy for the British at Murmansk. Also we have a history of the West Kent Yeomanry & a series of War sketches by de Montmorency.
8th January
Unusual to find the author of the ‘Just William’ books here but ‘Weatherley Parade’ is a family saga which takes us from the Boer War to WW2 & is interesting for its presentation of home front attitudes to the War.Plus a Warwick Deeping novel which clearly concerns the War but about which I can find no details, a jacketless Territorial memoir which is here because I can identify the author & a memorial volume from Lady Elcho to her sons, Ego & Yvo Charteris.
1st January 2017
Happy New Year to all my readers. A recent article on Richard Blaker by George Simmers on his Great War Fiction website, has led me to add a couple of his other novels to the site. Neither are truly War novels but the conflict does form the background to both. And another book by the journalist Floyd Gibbons on America’s entry into the War.
25th December
No special presents this Christmas Day but I imagine you’ll all have more exiting things to look at. So we have an account of Airships, both German & British, during & after the War, the earliest UK edition of Herbert’s ‘Secret Battle’ I’ve yet seen in a jacket & the US edition of Frankau’s ‘Three Englishmen’ in a rather fine jacket. Christmas greetings to anyone still reading this!
18th December
Firstly a series of stories, mostly true, of war in the Middle East culminating on
the Western Front. I assume ‘Stor Lob’ is a pseudonym but I can find no information
on him -
4th December
Today’s single book is one I’ve never come across in its jacket -
27th November
Firstly what seems to be a very rare memorial volume to Edward Wyndham Tennant & his brother Christopher. Privately printed by their mother Lady Glenconner in 1916 it precedes by 3 years the commercially produced collection of 1919 which focused solely on Edward. The only other copy I can find is in Yale, even eluding Tom Donovan in his recent bibliography.Plus another fine Fred Leist jacket for Boyd Cable’s ‘Front Lines’, a collection of Raemaeker’s War pictures & a history of the 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry recently sold on Ebay.
20th November
Today’s batch are all poetry books from Peter Harrington’s new acquisitions list. These are all scarce in their jackets witnessed by the fact that none have appeared here before. As a collector of such things I’d be quite keen to have them but finding more than £2700 for the 4 seems just a trifle too much!! For better value I’d recommend taking a look at the new listings from J and M books on ABE. Some rather desirable titles here including jacketed 1sts of Mars his Idiot, An Infant in Arms, Up to Mametz, Subaltern on the Somme & A Passionate Prodigality.
13th November
I’ve recently managed to find a copy (sadly without the jacket shown below) of Monica
Salmond’s fine memoir of her time as a nurse in the War. Her claim to fame lies in
her ancestry -
6th November
Today we have ‘Invicta’, Major Molony’s excellent account of the doings of the 1st Battalion Royal West Kents. It includes a very useful 75 page appendix listing every man who performed an act of Gallantry, whether awarded a medal or not. Journalist Harold Ashton’s ‘First from the Front’ probably is the first account of the fighting to be published. Parsons ‘Great Adventure’ is the US edition of the book published in the UK as ‘Flight into Hell’ & an account of the Australian troops in the last days of the War.
31st October
Firstly a most important Memorial volume recommended to me by JRF -
23rd October
Taking it easy this week with only 2 new titles. The ‘Taffrail’, (Captain Taprell
Dorling), is an account of the work of Destroyers, Flotilla-
16th October
I’m particularly pleased to have found today’s first offering, ‘The History of the
East Lancs Regiment’. Not being a big collector of Unit Histories this appealed because
a. It’s rare, b. It’s in its jacket & most importantly c. It’s inscribed by one of
its author’s, Maj. H. T. Macmullen to the daughter of its other author, Maj.Gen.Nicholson,
who died before the book could be completed. Plus a further Kipling which contains
some of his war-
9th October
Firstly, a fine jacket for Maj.Gen. Liggett’s memoirs of his time as Commander of the 1st & 3rd Corps, AEF , then a pictorial history of the Australians at War, a rarely seen jacketed copy of the first major biography of Edward Thomas & finally the Inspector General of the Turkish Forces account of the War.( this last book is held by an internet bookseller called Parveen Papers. They recently sold me a fine jacketed set of Kipling’s ‘Irish Guards’ for a bargain £35 both volumes of which turned out to be signed by the Great Man Himself!)
3rd October
So pleased to find this week’s book it gets the whole page to itself. Written by Howard Vincent O’Brien, a journalist, who served as a lieutenant of Artillery in the AEF. Although he wished to be with his men at the front, he spent most of his time away on courses or at headquarters in Paris. The wonderfully art deco cover is by K. Romney Towndrow who later became a prominent art critic.
27th September
2 additions from my rapidly growing set of Memorial volumes today. Both privately printed ; the first an account of the War service of 4 brothers from the same family, Wright, only one of whom, a Brigade Major with the 6th Infantry, was killed. Plus that to an officer with the 2nd Gordon Highlanders killed at Loos in 1915. In addition there are 2 novels concerning the War & the Russian revolution, still available from the latest Turner Donovan Catalogue. Incidentally, the Four Brothers volume comes from a large quantity of WW1 books dumped by Brighton Council’s library service along with a considerable number of staff. The brothers came from a local Hove family where the book was also printed. It’s rare, was probably the only copy available locally & has not been recorded. The Luddites on the library committee should feel thoroughly ashamed! Fellow collectors, the preservation of our History rests with us!
20th September
I don’t usually collect Unit histories but this 2-
11th September
Firstly, a Russian nurse with the Swedish Red Cross tending German & Austrian POW’s, who were treated appallingly by their captors. She was known as the Angel of Siberia. Then, at last, the first appearance of the UK edition of Conan Doyle’s War History. A copy of the elusive Report of the Battlefields Nomenclature Committee & an excellent report of a journey to the various War cemeteries around the world.
4th September
Firstly a couple of additions to my ever widening Kipling collection -
23rd August
Just a single book today as I’ve been a little under the weather lately. But what
a book!! Never thought I’d see this again. Rota had a copy many years ago as did
Tom Donovan a few years later & this it seems is that very same copy so possibly
the only one in existence. Far to expensive for me but I believe this copy will be
appearing in the listings of a well-
4th August
A memorial volume to Dr Macfarlane, first published in 1923, here in a slightly enlarged
edition from 1935. Lloyd George’s peculiar memoirs in the 2-
25th July
The plain dark cloth below covers what is certainly one of the finest memorial volumes
to come out of the War. ‘Pages from a Family Journal’ was compiled by Lady Desborough
to commemorate the loss of her two sons, Julian & Billy Grenfell, during the early
days of the War. It’s a fascinating account of gilded lives of extreme privilege.
Julian’s letters are probably the most interesting -
18th July
Today we have the UK edition of McFee’s ‘Command’, a novel on the problems of achieving higher command at sea, Brewer’s ‘Riders in the Sky’, a long narrative poem of a young American Flyer, a Sussex Battalion history & a collection of essays on the treatment of War wounds.
10th July
Only a minor assortment today. An early US ‘39 Steps’, a later edition of Hamilton’s
‘First Seven Divisions’, Quiller-
26th June
The expenditure of far too much money has bought me the first of these two rare books
by Frederick Sleath. The author served in France as a 2nd Lt. with the 2nd Royal
Scots but was invalided home after a freak accident with a trench board revealed
an underlying heart condition. This led to his passing the remainder of the War in
the War Office. He wrote half a dozen books, mostly thrillers, the first two of which
concerned the War. Sniper Jackson, shown here as a b&w image from an old catalogue,
is the book by which he’s chiefly remembered, drawing as it does on his time as the
Battalion’s sniping officer. The Seventh Vial is a spirited romance which contains
some graphic descriptions of air warfare. Plus a rare appearance of the Official
History -
19th June
A recent purchase from the June Bookfairs is this 1-
10th June
Sorry to have been away for so long but I bought myself a new computer & have been
desperately trying to move this site to it. Sadly it’s proved to be beyond my limited
computer skills in that this version of the software can’t be transferred or operate
in the latest version of the program. So I’m back to square one but with a redundant
but shiny new pc alongside me -
18th May
A rather nice early flying memoir today, ‘Short Flights with the Cloud Cavalry’. It’s a collection of short stories of an observation squadron over the Western Front. Noffsinger says it’s good on atmosphere but short on facts. Who ‘Spin’ was I have no idea. Plus an account of the French army at Verdun by an American ambulance driver & 2 novels concerning life with T.E.Lawrence by ‘Gurney Slade’ (Stephen Bartlett).
8th May
Nothing of lasting interest in today’s update with 2 improved images for Poling’s YMCA memoir ‘Huts in Hell’ & Chaplain Captain Guy Thornton’s account of his time with the NZEF in Egypt ‘With the Anzacs in Cairo’. Also the UK edition of Temple Thurston’s fictionalised life of Mata Hari, ‘Portrait of a Spy’ & the problems of supply during the War from the Controller of ‘Fats & Oils’!
2nd May
Last week saw the 100th anniversary of the surrender of the Kut Garrison. It’s rather apt therefore to have discovered on my shelves this copy of Dorina Neave’s ‘Remembering Kut’, which tells of the whole sorry story. It’s probably a sign that I have too many books when they seem to almost slip onto the shelves without my noticing! A particularly rare book, the UK edition of William March’s ‘Company K’, has turned up as a brace of copies from Peter Harrington. I bought the cheaper of the 2, both of which are file copies from the publisher, Gollancz. It’s interesting to note that the authors name has been misspelt on the jacket whereas it’s correctly spelt on the title page. A sign that I’ll buy almost anything is this slim volume on the Gordon Highlanders which has barely a page on WW1!
24th April
Back from bouncing around on the Bay of Biscay, so a rather brief precis today. Firstly
the UK edition of Britten-
10th April
Prior to a short break, a further selection from the Treloar auction in Adelaide, including a History of the 10th Light Horse, AIF.
3rd April
Today’s four books are all taken from a remarkable auction of ANZAC books to be held by Michael Treloar Auctions of Adelaide on April 10th. A further batch will be added later. Here we have jacketed copies of Capt. Ellis’ History of the 5th Australian Division, Col. Collett’s of the 28th Battalion, Walter Belford’s of the 11th Battalion & James Cowan’s history of the Maoris in the Great War.
27th March
Today we have Vernon Bartlett’s autobiography, of which some 40 pages is given over to his War service; the first volume of W. L. Wyllie’s evocative watercolours depicting the War at Sea & Navarro’s account of the establishment of the Scottish Women’s Hospital at the Abbey of Royaumont.
20th March
Only 2 books today but such remarkably fine specimens they get the space to themselves. C.A. Malcolm’s ‘Piper in War & Peace’, whilst being a history of Scottish Regimental Piping throughout the ages, is largely taken up with their service during the Great War. ‘Open House in Flanders’ is the Baroness de la Grange’s diary of the War as seen from the Chateau de la Motte which served as the headquarters for various Corps Commanders & other dignitaries . Both books are still relatively common these days but distinctly scarce in their jackets.
14th March
Phew! The software seems to be compatible with Windows 10 otherwise that last post would have truly been my last!
Firstly an epic poem from Shane Leslie on the Battle of Jutland, a third edition of Gen. Maurice’s account of the opening days of the War, an improved image of Major Brereton’s account of the New Zealanders in the War & a ‘fictional’? series of letters between a wounded Tommy & his nurse.
11th March
Testing to see if the site works in Windows 10
7th March
Sorry for the delay in updating but there was really little of interest to add, however yesterday’s Military Fair at the Royal National has provided a few worthy additions. Stephen Foot ‘s (‘Tank Major’) autobiography is more usually seen in it’s revised edition, Three Lives & Now published in 1937, than in its original form as here. Charles Douie’s novel ‘Night of Stars’ isn’t strictly speaking WW1, beginning as it does on Armistice night 1918, but for me it completes a trilogy of his books all of which are inscribed. Corporal’s Corner, a soldier’s letters to a nurse, is merely an improved image for an existing book.
21st February
Just a couple today after the excitement of last weeks entries. The more important of the two is Arthur Graeme West’s posthumous ‘Diary of a Dead Officer’, published by The Herald in 1918. West served in the ranks of the Public Schools Batt., Royal Fusiliers & later as a Capt. in the 6th Ox & Bucks. He was killed by a sniper in April 1917. It was also published simultaneously under the Allen & Unwin imprint. This is the first time I’ve seen either jacketed. If you’re feeling especially flush with spare cash it can be had for a rather buoyant £500 on Ebay. Plus an autobiographical novel of a young American working in the support lines at the front.
14th February
2 particularly fine rarities today. Aubrey Herbert’s ‘Mons, Anzac & Kut’, published
anonymously in 1919, is especially welcome being the only copy I’ve ever seen. Herbert’s
was a remarkable life : an MP, wounded at Gallipoli, he escaped & later travelled
to Egypt with Lawrence, subsequently landing at the Dardanelles in the first wave
& later serving as an Intelligence officer in Mesopotamia, all the while having the
most terrible eyesight. An operation to cure this by having all his teeth removed!
led to his death in 1923 from blood poisoning. He was a champion of Albanian independence
which resulted in his thrice being offered that countries crown. The ‘Belhaven’ was
here already but this is an especially fine copy of an exceedingly rare book in a
jacket. And finally a lovely wrap-
7th February
The image of a Howitzer in action is sadly all that remains of the jacket of 2nd
Lt. Cecil W. Longley’s ‘Battery Flashes’. It takes the form of a diary of an RFA
Battery in action from Sept. 1914 -
31st January
The inside flap on PBO’s ‘Hell in the Heavens’ describes the pseudonymous author
as being ‘one of the most famous airmen of the Great War’ but his identity remains
unknown (not to be confused with Arch Whitehouse’s memoir of the same name published
the year previously). George Hill’s ‘Dreaded Hour’ is a follow-
24th January
The first 2 of today’s books were already here but in slightly different forms -
17th January
De la Mare’s short essay in praise of Rupert Brooke was delivered to Rugby School in 1919. Not especially scarce but this one is signed by the poet. The MP Ian Malcolm goes behind the lines to see the work of the Red Cross in France & Italy. Jastrow’s work on the importance of the German built railway from Turkey to Iraq intended to give them access to the Red Sea avoiding the Suez Canal plus a slim volume of War poetry.
10th January 2016
To follow on from Tom Donovan’s new book, I’ve added a couple of volumes to the Memorials
page -
31st December
The last post of the year is just to promote Tom Donovan’s new bibliography of Memorial
Volumes from the Great War. Published in a limited edition of some 150 copies this
exemplary volume is the result of many years work & can’t be recommended too highly.
Listing over 360 volumes with a comprehensive index listing Regiments, Colleges,
Cemeteries & areas of battle it’s a must have work not only for those like myself
who collect in this field but for everyone interested in the first-
20th December
A chance recent purchase, ‘On the Run’ is an excellent collection of first-
13th December
Halpin’s ‘Blood in the Mists’ is a rare Australian account of imprisonment by the Turks. The author served with the 12th Light Horse Regiment. The Endless Road is a German play, originally written in 1926, which covers similar ground to the later ‘Journey’s End’. Comedy & Tragedy, on offer from J & M Books, is a collection of short stories, one for each year of the War plus a year either side plus an American treatise on Trench Fighting.
6th December (my Birthday!)
Here’s one of my many birthday treats to myself, which probably cost far too much for such a slim volume, but has such a wonderful image of a howitzer in action that it deserves the whole space to itself. George Goodchild, who went on to become a highly successful & prolific novelist, knew of what he spoke. He served with the 328th Siege Battery of the RGA & was wounded, gassed & discharged with shell shock. His more factual account of being a gunner was given in ‘Behind the Barrage’ which I’ve yet to see in its jacket.
29th November
Apologies for showing 2 new images of books already here but these editions of Brig.Gen.Spears
histories are of such fine quality I doubt better copies exist (‘Prelude’ was previously
shown as a 2nd ed.). Apologies also for showing a copy of the never jacketed History
of the 33rd Machine Gun Corps. The reason being that the author, Lt. Col. G. S. Hutchison,
has inscribed the book to ‘QUEX’ (Capt. Nichols who wrote ‘Pushed & the Return Push’).
He’s also added some drawings including that of a machine-
22nd November
A chance purchase of several volumes of a War-
15th November
Just one today, but as I’ve been searching for it for years it gets a whole page to itself. Although a novel, the author served as an officer with the 9th Battalion Prince of Wales Volunteers and so the War scenes have a particularly authentic feel. Much of it is set during the Salonica Campaign. The powerful jacket is signed ‘LIGO’.
8th November
Unusually, 3 of today’s books come from my own collection. The first 2 are replacement images for existing books. Lt. Col. Hutchison’s history of the MGC replaces an old b & w image. It’s an invaluable history beginning from the rather unlikely date of 430 BC. ‘On the Remainder of our Front’ is Robert Sturges account of his time at the front, firstly as a ranker with the 19th Bt., Royal Fusiliers & later as a Lt. with the MGC. Both books can be found occasionally but are distinctly scarce in their jackets. Lt. Freeman, RNVR & occasional correspondent, gives his account of various actions & of his time on American Destroyers. Plus a volume of American War verse.
1st November
The first of today’s new books is particularly appropriate coming so shortly after the anniversary of Edith Cavell’s death. Louise Thuliez (misspelled on the jacket!) was a close associate of Nurse Cavell & was condemned to death alongside her. Her sentence was eventually commuted to life with hard labour. She gives a fine portrait of her fellow convictee. Plus a soldier of the foreign legion and 2 further American accounts. (BT connection only lasted a day before being severed again. So another hour to India & another engineer. He’s put a note on my junction box at the exchange not to disconnect it again. Ah, the wonders of modern technology).
26th October
This post has been delayed by my having no Internet connection for 2 weeks. 4 hours of phone calls to India over several nights failed to fix the problem & an engineer was reluctantly dispatched today along with dire threats of my having to pay £135 for the privilege! So much for BT customer service. Caveat Emptor!!
By far the most important of today’s books is for the Memorials page. ‘The Sufferings
of the Kut Garrison during their march into Turkey as Prisoners of War’ by Lt. F.
A. Harvey of the 2nd Dorsets. Privately printed in 1923 as a memorial to Lt. Harvey
who was killed during the Moplah Rebellion of 1921, it gives in diary form what I
believe is the first unvarnished account of the terrible retreat. The Turks don’t
come out of this well! I can’t find any other copies of this book elsewhere, the
IWM one seems to be a photocopy. It has a sticker in the front which suggests it
was once safely housed in a library but has clearly been de-
11th October
Firstly an improved image for Lloyd Hirst’s ‘Coronel & After’, his story of command aboard HMS Glasgow, the only ship to survive the battle of Coronel & to be present at the Falkland’s battle. One Crowded Hour is the story of a Polish Count who fought in the War & of his subsequent escape from Bolshevik Russia. Plus Jack Munroe’s tale of a mascot with the Princess Pats & 3 months in the Champagne sector in 1915 by a 2nd Lieutenant.
4th October
As promised, a new page devoted to another of my collecting passions -
27th September
Occasionally one comes across a jacket so stunning it deserves a page all to itself. One such can be seen below. It’s the UK edition of Ernst Carl’s account of his being Germany’s Master Spy in England during the War. One of several claimants to that title, his account of his part in the death of Lord Kitchener has since been called into question. Carl claimed to have been in contact with Irish Nationalists to plant 2 time bombs on HMS Hampshire. He then described seeing the ship explode from the bar of the White Horse Inn in Kirkwall. Apparently no such Inn existed & the ship was too far from land to have been seen anyway. The jacket is by Douglas Moir.
20th September
Today brings more Flying Books, 1 of them from the Little Stour Books collection. 1st & 2nd editions of ‘Heroes of Aviation’ shows a change of personnel for the jacket, only 2 of the 5 making it to the 2nd version. Plus McConnell with the Lafayette Escadrille over Verdun.
A chance finding of a rare Kipling pamphlet has revived my long-
13th September
Hugh Standish’ ‘Private War’ is a novel largely set 20 years on in South America
but the opening 60 pages concern WW1. I first saw this book some 25 years ago but
failed to buy it. When a jacketless copy turned up recently I snapped it up only
to find it enclosed in a facsimile jacket from which the image below is taken. I
wonder where the original is now? Plus some war-
6th September
Another replacement, this time for Major Sandes ‘Tales of Turkey’, author of ‘In
Kut & Captivity’, a jacketed copy of which still eludes us. It describes his passage
through the country with a group of fellow prisoners. He’s none too kind to our fellow
Europeans -
30th August
The 1st issue of ‘Death in the Air’, with its faked pictures of air combat using
model planes, is on-
23rd August
Over the years I’ve managed to find a number of books detailing the work of women in the Munitions industry during the War but I’d not been aware that it had been a subject for children’s literature. I’ve now come across 2 such, Bessie Marchant’s ‘A Girl Munition Worker’, shown below & Brenda Girvin’s ‘Munition Mary’. My attempt to buy the latter resulted in a copy in what appears to be a generic ‘Clarion’ series jacket so I’d be grateful if anyone could supply the original. Plus a few minor additions from Teddy Roosevelt Jr., an Irish General & a history of the US Engineering Corps.
16th August
Charlton’s ‘Deeds’ is one of 3 books, with Land & Sea, tracing war-
10th August
Back from the Baltic so normal service can resume. Yesterday’s Military bookfair
in London has provided me with several more entries although I did contrive to leave
some of my purchases behind! The Vernede is for the Memorials page & consists of
his letters to his wife from the front. The Corbett-
24th July
I’ve recently acquired a number of Memorial volumes. Although only one comes with a jacket I thought it might be worth showing a group of them here. The jacketed one, privately printed in 1916, prints the letters of 2nd Lt. James Addy of the 1st KRRC. ‘Vin’, the letters of Frederick Hall of 210 Squadron, comes bound in leather from his flying jacket. John M’Ervel was a Major in the King’s Liverpool Regiment and the book is effectively his War diary. George Cowpe was in the 6th Cheshires & Arthur Hatfield was a Chaplain with the 10th Div., EEF. To accommodate these I’ve created a new Memorials page.
The holiday season will make updates a little erratic over the next few weeks, normal service will probably be restored around the middle of August.
12th July
Today’s sees the arrival of another long-
5th July
Things are looking up today with 2 further additions from my long-
28th June
Today’s pair have just been greatly enhanced by the addition of one of the great German classics of the War, Karl Broger’s ‘Pillbox 17’ in its elusive jacket by Bip Pares. It tells the simple story of an attack on the said Pillbox & the death of its occupants. Broger was known as Germany’s Labour Poet. Plus an account of the German Occupation of Belgium & a history of the New England Battalions in France towards the end of the War.
21st June
Today we have 2 more books I’d assumed were on-
14th June
2 more from my own collection today -
7th June
The shortage of new images forces me to post only 2 new pictures per week for the
foreseeable future. The first today, ‘Inside Constantinople’ is already on-
31st May
A couple of recent purchases that I could have sworn were on-
F. S. Oliver was a highly influential political figure during the War being involved, through his association with the ‘Monday Night Cabal’, in the downfall of the Asquith government. These are his letters to his brother in Canada.
26th May
Just one book today -
17th May
The American War novel, Soul Wounds, tells of the horror & loneliness of War & its
effect on the survivors. Thanks to Second Edition books for providing me with this
image. Also, Eddie Rickenbacker’s account of fighting the Red Baron, a biography
of General Wilson & a thrilling Air-
10th May
Firstly the UK edition of ‘A Captive on a German Raider. By F G Trayes, then the Reverend Talbot’s Thoughts on Religion at the Front, Sir Gerald Ellison questions the attack on the Dardanelles in 1915 & a Memorial volume of a Californian in the Royal Field Artillery who was killed on the Somme.
3rd May
A mixed bag from my reserve stock of not-
26th April
I would have bet a small fortune on Neville’s ‘War Letters of a Light Infantryman’
being jacketless -
19th April
Today brings 3 books from me plus a Battalion History. Haldane’s History of the Fourth Seaforth’s at Loos, Somme & Passchendaele can be described as one of the best Territorial accounts, justly earning a star from Cyril Falls. Thomas Tiplady was Chaplain to the 56th (London) Div. & is a series of suitably uplifting stories. Martial Medley is a collection of Wartime fact & fiction by several authors including Charles Edmonds (Carrington) & John Brophy. Alongside this edition of 925 copies were 75 signed by all the contributors. Valour & Vision is the much expanded 2nd edition of the excellent poetry anthology first published in 1920.
12th April
This week’s books are all from Australia courtesy of the strikingly named ‘Grisly Wife Bookshop’. 2 are books of poetry by fine but long neglected poets, plus 2 books of amusing stories’ They make a rather fine group, I thought. I was tempted to buy the lot had the next Turner Donovan Catalogue not been imminent.
5th April
Having mentioned the Assher on the War Forum one of our contributors turns out to
have an intact copy so it’s good to know it isn’t completely lost.To go with it we
have a couple from John Etheridge -
2nd April
An earlier than usual update to show this ultra-
29th March
To start with, a couple more picked up at the recent WW1 bookfair -
22nd March
Montague Hainsselin, a once popular author, has fallen so far into obscurity that
the mighty Internet is silent on his entire career. He wrote 5 books on the War at
Sea, all of which bear reading again, if only to sample the atmosphere which must
have pertained on the ships of the line. Only Grand Fleet Days is now required to
complete the set. Memorial volumes rarely feature here as they are generally sans
jackets, so it’s good to have this exceptional volume of letters by Lt. Buxton of
the 3rd RFA. Rather than the usual collection of juvenilia & poetry, here we have
nearly 250 pages of letters from the front. More widely available than most such
volumes, it’s well worth seeking out. Plus an improved copy of Iron Rations & a supposedly
humorous novel of African-
15th March
Firstly an excellent memoir by Lt.Col. Croft who commanded the 11th Royal Scots &
later the 27th (Lowland) Brigade. A fine & compassionate officer. W.L.Wyllie is better
known these days for his etchings of ships but here we see some of his rather appealing
watercolours including those of the Battle of Jutland. Both this volume & its predecessor
are relatively common but the jacket is a real rarity -
8th March
I thought today’s first item would be winging its way to me via Ebay, but with today’s WW1 bookfair in mind I held back. Nonetheless it’s a wonderfully naive illustration for this anonymous volume of nursing letters. Also a colour image of the 1st illustrated edition of Thomas Boyd’s American classic, an account of the US medical services & a strange novel in which an elementary school teacher dreams of her days as an ambulance driver during the War. High hopes for the Bloomsbury bookfair today.
1st March
The UK edition of Fallon’s ‘The Big Fight’ was already on-
23rd February
A few books courtesy of the new Turner Donovan Catalogue including 2 further volumes
on the Essex Units in the War. A volume of memoirs by Sir Michael Bruce -
16th February
Still under the weather but I thought you might like to see this book which arrived
today. Joseph Hocking was one of those novelists, along with Jeffrey Farnol & E.
Phillips Oppenheim, who were once enormously popular but are today hardly read at
all. I remember back in the 60s a request in a secondhand bookshop for one of their
novels would likely have met with the response “come back with a wheel-
15th February
This week’s update will be somewhat later than usual as I seem to have developed
Bronchitis and am finding it rather difficult to even get out of bed. My most recent
purchase is a nearly mint copy of Crutchlow’s ‘Tale of an Old Soldier’ but it’s here
already so that’s merely housekeeping. You’ll have to enjoy the Sapper for a little
longer! (I see it’s still available -
8th February
I don’t usually give over this space to a single book, but as an occasional collector of Sapper’s works the appearance of this extremely rare volume, the first I’ve seen, deserves a special place. Very many thanks to James Pickard for scanning the jacket for me. At the time of writing the book was still available from him. It’s interesting to compare the image with that used for the cheaper version of the following year.
Also let me draw you attention to the first of this years WW1 bookfairs at the Royal National Hotel in Bloomsbury on Sunday 8th March. If it’s half as good as last years it’ll be well worth the trip. Hopefully there won’t be a cycle race going on which disrupted the buses for last year’s event. Further details are given in the box below the picture.
1st February
Judging by the number of copies sold, Sir Oliver Lodge’s attempts to communicate with his dead son through spiritualism, obviously struck a chord with other similarly bereaved relatives. Clearly it still holds its appeal today as I failed to place a large enough bid for it on Ebay recently. We also have some of Teddy Roosevelt Jnr’s. War stories, some Sea tales from the poet Alfred Noyes, & a novel by Gordon Gardiner of Spies & Intrigue in India during the War.
25th January
Today we have one of mine -
18th January
Today I’m shamelessly raiding the Babylon Revisited / Yesterday’s Gallery website
for images as they’ve just produced a new catalogue which has several War-
11th January
My visit to a “well-
4th January 2015
And a Happy New Year to you all. I’m hoping a visit to a well known book dealer in the next few days will yield some more interesting jackets, meanwhile I continue to plunder my reserve stock of images. Apologies if I’ve not credited you with supplying them to me but I’ve had some for so long I’ve forgotten their origins. Today we have a lightly novelised account of the Mata Hari story (US & UK editions), a tribute to a YMCA educationalist & the diary of a lady driver with the AEF at the end of the War.
28th December
Rather quiet on the book front at the moment as all the dealers are seemingly hibernating
-
21st December
Season’s greetings to all my readers. The first 3 books today are all from my own collection which is unusual given the relative scarcity of decent books around at the moment. The first is rather remarkable, using as it does the design of an Active Service envelope overprinted with the books title & being addressed to the General Public. It’s reminiscent of ‘Green Envelopes’ which uses the same image for part of the jacket front. Also one of Edward Thompson’s several books of poetry to contain a few War poems, an account of Flying Exploits, about a third of which concern the War & another collection of Irving Cobb’s observations from near the front.
14th December
The first of today’s books, ‘Annette of the Argonne’, was spotted on Peter Harrington’s website where it is described as a story of the French Front. ’Wade in Sanitary’ is an account by a US surgeon in the 2nd Division. The author was married to ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt’s daughter. The first volume of Raemaekers’ Cartoon History of the War’ & Flora Sandes autobiography.
7th December
3 more children’s books today including a rather fetching image for Bessie Marchant’s ‘Girl Munition Worker’. Also a pleasing volume of Australian War Poetry from a Gunner with the 4th Battery, Australian Field Artillery, Frank Westbrook’s ‘Anzac & After’. It seems to have only been published in the UK, probably as he was in hospital here suffering from shell shock.
30th November
9 additions to the Children’s novels page, mostly courtesy of B.J.Pryor in Virginia
-
23rd November
Early editions of Edward Thomas are rarely seen in their jackets. ‘Twelve Poets’ was published simultaneously with Thomas’ ‘Last Poems’ in 1918 after his death in France. I can find no reference anywhere to the nature of these early jackets so I’m assuming that the glassine jacket here is the original. To go with it another volume of War poetry, Edward Thompson’s ‘Collected Poems’, more of Alan Bott’s Flying memoirs & a variant jacket on Abraham’s ‘Balkan Log’.
17th November
Only 2 genuinely new additions today. A scarce jacket on General Lettow-
10th November
For me the ABA’s Chelsea Bookfair is usually a matter of looking but not buying, most of the items on sale tend to be from an earlier era than those displayed here. What a pleasant surprise it therefore was when the first book I set eyes on as I entered was Thekla Bowser’s Story of VAD work in the War. It’s not uncommon but this is the only jacket for it I’ve ever seen. I assume the IWM don’t have one either as they had to use a Joyce Denys picture to grace their facsimile edition of a few years ago. There was even a Jellicoe ‘Grand Fleet’ in jacket to compound my delight. We also have a fine Howard Leigh jacket for Col. Driggs novel & a US edition of Harold Rosher’s letters.
I’ve also heard via the Great War Forum that the IWM library is under threat due to grant cuts. With the Foreign Office, MOD & other government libraries already dispersed folks like us may be the last repositories of this material.
4th November
The RFC/RAF is to the fore today courtesy of Colophon Books. The History of 60th
Squadron is already here as a US edition but this is the UK version. Mrs.Rickard’s
novel tells of a young man forced by War & personal misfortune to spy for the Kaiser.
Plus 2 US editions of existing books -
27th October
Some of you may have noticed a large & impressive collection of privately printed Memorial volumes appearing on Ebay over the last few weeks. I’ve been tempted by several of them but the prices they are fetching have been truly staggering so I’ve had to pass them by. So far what is probably the finest of such works hasn’t appeared & as it is particularly elusive I thought I’d show it here. It’s the memorial to Capt. E.S.Underhill of the Loyal North Lancs. A large quarto, it’s bound in half leather with numerous photo’s & fold out trench maps. His diary & letters, annotated by his father give a graphic description of several campaigns. Goodness knows what it would have cost to produce but there can only have been a very few copies made, this being the only one I’ve ever encountered. It was reprinted by the London Stamp Exchange in the late 80’s but not to this standard. Should it come up during the present sale I’d urge anyone with an interest in these things to hang the expense & snap it up.
21st October
An unusually long hiatus caused by a lack of interesting books coming my way. Also
the dwindling number of visitors has made me somewhat reluctant to update as often
as I used to. However the first of today’s batch has stirred me into action. I’m
always particularly pleased to find War-
29th September
One from Tom Donovan’s latest catalogue & 3 more courtesy of John Etheridge.
8th September
Ah! the vagaries of the book market. I don’t recall ever seeing a copy of the poetry
anthology ‘The Muse in Arms’ in a jacket until a few days ago when the copy below
appeared. Within 3 days of the books arrival another copy appeared on Ebay. Must
be like London buses -
26th August
Wouldn’t you know it -
20th August
A very mixed bag today, only 1 of which is in a jacket. The first work by ‘Royal
Field Leech’ surely came with a jacket but I despair of ever seeing it so here it
is unwrapped. Long sought for it proves to be rather a disappointment being less
concerned with the day-
11th August
An excellent Military bookfair at the Royal National on Sunday has yielded the following books new to the site. Ethel Richardson relates her experience of having a husband & 3 sons at the front one of whom was in the RWF & was mentioned in the books of Sassoon, Graves & others. Military Musings is a series of anecdotes covering both War & Peace. General de Lisle recounts his career from the Boer War through to Ypres & Gallipoli & ‘Suspect’ is a rare memoir of a young artist who was falsely imprisoned during the War accused of being a spy. Also there are a couple of additions to the ‘Soldier Books’ series.
4th August
To mark the Centenary of the start of the War here is a near perfect copy of Snook’s ‘Gun Fodder’ to replace the rather tatty copy I was using before. & let me recommend the new 1914 Catalogue from Turner Donovan. Packed full of irresistible items it’s sure to sell out quickly.
21st July
Various additions -
11th June
Just 1 new book today -
2nd June
Firstly thanks to B J Pryor in Virginia for supplying several of today’s images including
2 improved ones for Geo Rochester’s books. David Lindsay’s ‘Flying Crusader’ is a
novel set amongst the British forces in Palestine. As usual it comes with a Stanley
Orton Bradshaw jacket -
24th May
2 particularly fine books today. The excellent new catalogue from Morton/Harper has
yielded Brig. Croft’s ‘Twenty-
18th May
Yesterday’s Lewes Bookfair has thrown up a jacketed copy of George Clarke’s ‘A Treasury
of War Poetry’. Strangely scarce in it’s jacket this is one of the best of the early
anthologies, serving to remind us of the many poets who no longer get anthologised!
It’s relatively early date, 1919, means no Owen, Rosenberg or Thomas & precious little
Sassoon or Graves but it’s nonetheless a worthwhile collection. Plus an excellent
Siege Battery account, printed in what must have been tiny quantities at the Arsenal
Press at Woolwich. A day-
13th May
Being in the throw’s of one of the worst colds known to man I don’t feel up to listing
more than one book today. Fortunately it’s a highly important & exceedingly rare
one -
7th May
An influx of important additions has stirred me back into action. Firstly to correct an error is the true UK 1st of Frank Richards classic other ranks memoir ‘Old Soldiers Never Die’, followed by 3 extremely rare books from David Pritchard. Naylor’s memoir of a sapper in the Ypres salient, Kingham’s account of an HAC Battery in action & the work of a Baptist Chaplain in the Near East during the War.
25th April
Sorry for the long gap between updates but with nothing really interesting to add I didn’t want to dilute the quality with too many minor works. These are, I fear, of that minor calibre but it’s necessary to check in once in a while. The only one of these I know anything about is F W Harveys ‘Ducks’ which came my way recently. The War only gets the briefest of mentions but I’m particularly fond of the poet & this is a scarce jacket so here it is.
9th April
Firstly that classic escaping memoir ‘The Road to En-
29th March
In case you haven’t looked to the bottom of this page, there is a new set of jacket spines (the spine always seems to suffer most, probably because we tend to grab the book there when pulling it off the shelf).
‘More Tish’ is part of a series by Mary Roberts Rinehart concerning Letitia Carberry who is here seen doing her bit. ‘Trekking On’ in 2 later editions & an early paperback issue of Ira Jones’ biography of Mick Mannock.
24th March
Today we have an American chaplains letters from the Front in 1918, a guide to the
Australian & other War Cemeteries throughout the world, a War play broadcast on Armistice
night in 1925 & a Churchill pamphlet on the production of Munitions. And let me draw
your attention to an excellent new volume from Tom Donovan editions -
17th March
Peter Harrington’s acquisition of Charles MacArthur’s ‘War Bugs’ enables me to improve the existing image & to add that of the US edition.
A thanks to George Simmers for identifying ‘The Making of an Officer’ as a very early work by ‘Sapper’ & the addition of F. W. Harvey’s ‘In Pillowell Woods’ is down to my fondness for the poet. I can justify its inclusion as the slim volume contains a couple of poems on the Armistice & is also rather rare.
10th March
My copy of Hornsey’s ‘Hell on Earth’ arrived today, a fine copy. It shares its jacket with that used for Patrick Mahon’s ‘Cold Feet’ which I thought might indicate a series. A potential entry for that is listed on the rear of the jacket, H.E.L. Mellersh’s ‘Ill Wind’. Unfortunately I can’t locate a copy, so if anyone knows what the jacket was like then please let me know. Mellersh later wrote his own account of the War ‘Schoolboy into War’. Today we have a ship’s surgeons account of Gallipoli, a children’s novel of War off Zeebrugge, some minor War poetry & an Aviation Book Club edition of Kingsford’s ‘Night Raiders’.
6th March
A single volume again today but such a rare jacket it deserves the place to itself.
‘Black Tab’s’ account of the Mesopotamian campaign is a richly illustrated volume,
very good on local colour & the day-
2nd March
Today’s image is of just 1 book but an important one that I’ve looked long and hard
for over the years. The copy on its way to me won’t look as good as the one showing
here which I’ve lifted from an on-
24th February
Another long delay caused by the ever penetrating damp. Moving a bookcase to find the wall behind wringing with water & black mould beginning to penetrate the woodwork was rather a shock. Also having taken up BT’s kind offer of free McAfee virus protection I found I could no longer send any data anywhere which nearly caused the end of this enterprise! So today we have the US & UK editions of Liddell Hart’s reflections on the War at the dawn of another one, A Fighting Padre & a rare Sapper 1st.
12th February
Rather a scratch bunch today as I’m surrounded by builders who are installing a kitchen & dealing with the spreading damp! The Wings is here already but this is a much better copy & we’re able to identify the author at last. A Soldier’s War is somewhat of a rarity, I believe, & although rather late is a necessary addition. The author served in the 1st Batt., Somerset Light Infantry where he won a DCM & MM. Plus a pamphlet by Buchan on Jutland & a volume of rather indifferent War poetry.
6th February
Much as I might poke fun at Peter Harrington’s prices, they do find some excellent books, and having directed one of my contributors to them, which resulted in a purchase, I don’t feel too guilty. 3 of today's additions come from them, most pleasing of which is for Ford’s ‘When Blood is their Argument’. I’d doubted that this book ever had a jacket but the discovery of this one clearly indicates that it’s companion volume ‘Between St. Denis & St. George’ was likely issued with one as well. The privately printed slim volume that I just bought from Ebay is a most interesting account by an Englishwoman who found herself in Germany at the outbreak of War. It has some useful observations of the early preparations for War & is quoted in Richard van Emden’s book ‘Meeting the Enemy’.
1st February
Very tempted by Harrington’s copy of Wings’ ‘Over the German Lines’, signed by the author with his full name, but £350 is a tad too rich for me so I’ll leave it for the rest of you. Meanwhile there’s Admiral Fishers memoirs, Frank Chambers’s history of other aspects of the War, the strikingly jacketed Royal Mail War Book & a seafaring novel by Raoul Whitfield.
25th January
This weeks Radio Times announces 2,500 hours of WW1 programmes on the BBC. In a topic
I’ve started on the Great War Forum I’ve considered if this is looking like a case
of overkill. I suspect that a great part of the population, for whom the War is just
another piece of history, will soon tire of the whole thing long before the first
Centenary arrives. It’s a fact of modern life that we all have short attention spans
& a constant craving for new material. It’s still 6 months to go and already the
shelves in the bookshops are groaning under the weight of War books. I’m only glad
that this site is largely limited to pre-
Of today’s books, Tale of a Territorial is a jacketless private production but is worthy of inclusion for it’s authors (Capt. Richard Dudley Pendered of the 1/4th Northants) description of fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula. The British Soldier is a collection of snippets of soldier’s letters to the press, gathered by a clergyman in 1915, which is, unsurprisingly, relentlessly upbeat.
20th January
If you thought the Yeates below was rather dear then check out ABE for a copy of
that other classic flying memoir, Sagittarius Rising. A scarce but not rare book,
there was a copy on Ebay recently for some £130, this one will set you back £3500!
I apologise for the slightly blurred nature of today’s pictures -
13th January
The US edition of the classic flying memoir, Winged Victory, is here to mark the
fact that the 1st UK edition appears to have sold on ABE for £2,300. It was a fine
copy in a fine jacket but .....! The Centenary effect has obviously kicked in early.
Maybe I should re house my collection in a bank vault! Also a splendid W. E. Johns
jacket for Covington Clarke (Venables) ‘For Valour’. On a different front I’ve just
acquired a rather fine Tank memoir, sadly sans jacket, which seems to be rather rare
but about which I can find no information. It’s by Arthur Jenkin called ‘A Tank Driver’s
Experiences’, published by Elliot Stock in 1922. Other than being listed as one of
the earliest soldier’s memoirs it seems to have passed into oblivion, no further
issues are available even as a POD or e-
7th January 2014
I’m stirred back into action by the arrival of Clutha Mackenzie’s ‘Tale of a Trooper’,
courtesy of Mackenzie’s grand-
I see the Great War between the Revisionists & the Futilists is hoting up. Unfortunately it seems to be turning into a spat between Left & Right. Anyone not seeing the War as a Great Patriotic Triumph over the evil German Empire is being labelled a ‘Looney Leftie’. The thought of going over the top with the likes of Michael Gove & Boris Johnson would certainly have me running to the rear.
29th December
George Aston’s book on the British Secret Service in the War looked vaguely familiar
when I pasted its image below. So it should, I realised, as I looked up and saw it
on the shelf. I only bought it a few months ago but such was the turmoil of the house
move I’d completely forgotten it. Thank goodness I didn’t order another copy -
24th December
Last post before Christmas as it were. My main concern at the moment is whether to replace the felt on my flat roof torn off by last nights gale knowing that the next one on Friday will tear it off again! Today we have a couple of variants of existing titles, a wide ranging military autobiography touching briefly on the War & a rather tatty account of Dover’s part in it. The latter can be had from a Surrey bookseller for only £195!
20th December
Hopefully back in the usual routine of updates every 4 days. Herbert Strang’s ‘Tom Willoughby’s Scouts’ is a fairly routine boy’s book noteworthy for the fact of its being set in German East Africa. The Captain Armstrong is a very slim paperback telling of his single week in Flanders with the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers prior to his being struck in the back by a shell fragment. It gives a very immediate impression of front line life. Despite carrying the imprint of Smith, Elder, I suspect it was a private printing judging by its current scarcity. He went on to become 2nd Baron Armstrong of Cragside. Plus the US edition of Carossa’s War Diary & a rare novel of the Indian involvement in the War.
16th December
Apologies for the much longer delay than expected between updates -
30th November
Still largely dysfunctional here so an easy update courtesy of Fons in Holland. Below
are 4 works from Scribner’s 5 volume set of Great War re-
26th November
Still a week away from unearthing any books so only the briefest of updates. Fuller’s contentious views on the Army, a future film director with the Escadrille, the last days of the Romanovs & a nursing diary from Serbia. (I’d rather like the latter but at £380 I’ll have to pass).
22nd November
Back on Active Service again although it will be some weeks before the books re-
16th November
The increasing chaos of my impending house move means there will be no further updates to the site until at least 24th November (BT willing). Rest assured I will be back with plenty more images that are ready and waiting.
8th November
Breaking my own rule governing the site parameters by including P G Ackrell’s ‘My
Life in the Machine Gun Corps’. Published in 1966 it’s a product of that tiny publisher
Stockwell which accounts for its scarcity. It’s an important account as the author
was at Cambrai, was part of the army of Occupation and served in India post-
4th November
An excellent Military bookfair at the Royal Logistics Museum at Deepcut Barracks
on Saturday, although I did make all my purchases at Tony & Gill Tiffin’s stand.
I think the fact that they don’t put their books on the Internet helps considerably
and greatly increases the chances of finding something special. I only wished I bumped
into them more often but being based in Darlington means they tend to exhibit at
fairs some way away from me. Always worth the wait though -
31st October
Taking a break from repairing my storm-
27th October
Today’s first book is at present the subject of a fierce struggle on Ebay -
23rd October
Shamelessly, I’m taking all of today’s images from the latest Turner Donovan Catalogue
no.127 & the first one, with a still from the film of The Spanish Farm trilogy, is
on-
19th October
A shortage of new images allows me to indulge myself a little. Foley’s ‘Three Years
on Active Service’, privately printed in 1920, was almost certainly never issued
with a jacket but it’s such a fine memoir & so far seems to have escaped the attentions
of the POD & E-
15th October
All of today’s offerings will be going on the Children’s Novels page. I don’t usually
collect such things but when the first 2 titles below appeared on ABE I couldn’t
resist. I’ve not seen many such early juvenilia retaining their jackets as I suspect
they were more vulnerable to damage than more adult titles. It’s always difficult
to date these books as the publishers rarely provide such information but I think
they are 1917-
11th October
Firstly let me draw your attention to an excellent article on that prolific jacket designer, Helen McKie, by Laurence Worms of Ash Rare Books on his Bookhunter on Safari blog for October 3rd. Unlike many designers of the period she signed her jackets & the additional information on her given here is most enlightening (there are also some generous comments on this site which are much appreciated).
Some War-
7th October
Back from the Loire. What could be more agreeable, as the late Kenneth Clark would say, than to spend a week visiting the various Chateau & Vineyards. We found some superb wines that never get anywhere near a Supermarket shelf including one of the finest reds I’ve ever tasted at only 10 Euro a bottle. A nice memorial volume to Charles Lister was on the doormat with the usual Salford Library sticker inside, this time plonked right on top of Thomas Hope Floyd’s signature. It’s bad enough that they flog off his collection but clearly these philistines didn’t even care for the books when they had them. As most of Lister’s letters are from the Dardanelles there won’t be any of Floyd’s usual marginal notes as I don’t think he was there. Have also managed to find Ludendorff’s memoirs in jackets!
27th September
Strange how a little publicity brings forgotten books back to the market. After the
Wipers Times broadcast on BBC, Ebay seems to be awash with copies (the anthologies
that is). The first one I saw -
23rd September
Until now there has been a total absence of books on the War in the Welsh language, but that oversight can now be remedied thanks to a new contributor, Clive Hughes, who has kindly supplied our first example. Land of My Fathers was a gift book published in 1915 by Hodder to raise funds for Welsh troops & unusually was published in Welsh & English. The jacket painting by A. C. Williams shows the Welsh Hero, Owen Glendower. Also a history of the Welsh War effort & a bound volume of Edgar Wallace’s 6 volumes on the Territorial forces.
18th September
I’m reading a book of letters supposedly written by a French private, ‘Letters of
a Soldier 1914-
13th September
It’s rare these days that I come across a book I’ve not heard of before, but when
it describes a campaign I knew nothing of as well, well!! Such is the case with today’s
first book ‘Parergon’ which tells of the defence of Anglo-
9th September
Back from a long weekend in Somerset to find this charming piece of Boys Fiction on the doormat. The book is undated & I’d have guessed 1950s from the appearance of the jacket, but it’s 1929 & carries an inscription from the Primitive Methodist Sunday School to that effect. All I can tell you is it’s a War story of the Western Front. Plus a biography of the assassinated ArchDuke & a book on the 1919 Russian campaign, both from the latest Turner Donovan Catalogue & a popular edition of Adm. Campbell’s book on Q ships. Plus I’ve got a stinking cold!!
3rd September
I mentioned the site on the Great War Forum the other day & got more hits than I’ve
had for years, so welcome to any new visitors -
30th August
Sometimes I think I’ll buy anything in a jacket! Today’s opener proves it. The Field
of Honour is a collection of 4 War-
26th August
Rather a brief entry today but I was so taken with these 2 flying novels that Renzo
has sent in I thought they deserved the space all to themselves. Besides more Memorial
volumes have arrived for me & they rarely come jacketed. The Geo Rochester is a semi-
22nd August
This is my 3rd attempt at an update. Put the cursor in the wrong place, press the wrong button & the whole enterprise threatens to disappear down the electronic plughole. Anyway once again we have the UK edition of Death of a Fleet on the build up to the scuttling at Scapa Flow, the US edition of Frenssen’s novel of a German soldier at the front, Clinker Knocker’s tales of his time as a Stoker & Woollcott’s tales of being a hospital orderly.
17th August
2 really dramatic covers to start with today which have been supplied by David & Helen Pritchard. I’d never come across these volumes before each of which tells the story of a dozen Territorial Battalions in the early days of the War up to the battle of Loos. I’ve failed to find any for sale but a search reveals a copy of Vol. 2 which can be read online here. The Sholokhov is the first part of the trilogy, which deals most directly with the War. It’s pristine nature is due to a Mark Terry restoration. Ben Tillett was a labour politician & Union activist whose views on the aerial bombing of German cities & advocation of harsh treatment for Pacifists made him rather a curate’s egg of a person. This is his autobiography.
13th August
Most of my recent purchases have been Memorial volumes but I thought I’d slip in
a couple of Privately Printed first-
8th August
An early & unusual update today to showcase the remarkable transformations performed
by Mark Terry of Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC on some of my books. The latest additions
to his catalogue include around 20 of my collection that Mark scanned last year.
Whatever your feelings about facsimiles, I think the fact that these are being preserved
& restored to their original glory is highly laudable. Mark was a graphic designer
so has the necessary skills but even with today’s advanced software the restoration
he has performed on these 2, particularly ‘Haunting Years’, deserves to be seen.
These images will not be replacing the ones on-
5th August
Firstly let me recommend an excellent book I’ve been reading, ‘Twenty-
28th July
Having recently acquired the first 2 of today’s books I now have all 6 of Collins
‘Books of the Great War’ series & so have added the whole set to the ‘On Active Service
Series’ page. This set, issued in April 1930, was clearly Collins’ attempt to capitalise
on the War Books boom but unlike the other 3 series listed this set contained no
new material, all the titles having been issued nearly a decade earlier. The lucky
buyer of ‘Three Chevrons’ from the Marrin catalogue has kindly sent in the requested
image which goes on the same page. This means the site now shows 17 of the 28 in
jackets -
24th July
Sitting here waiting for the promised storm which seems to have passed us by, so before I start on an hour of watering the garden here are a few more books to be going on with. Firstly, Philip Child’s decidedly elusive novel ‘God’s Sparrows’ which tells the story of some Canadian soldiers from 2 families & their involvement in the last great German advance. Canon Scott’s ‘Great War as I saw it’ is the story of the 1st Canadian Division from recruitment & training to the Front. Lady Paget’s book relates her setting up & running of a Red Cross unit in Serbia in 1915 & the Lloyd George is a collection of his speeches from the early days of the War.
20th July
Far too hot to be sitting in front of a computer so just a few simple additions today.
Renzo has sent in the full jacket image for W. E. Johns only WW1 non-
16th July
3 Flying books to kick off with today & an un-
12th July
The ingestion of a piece of underdone barbequed chicken whilst in France has meant a longer than usual absence of updates. On the plus side my wife says that the resulting loss of weight is a great improvement. Whilst the thought of solid food is not yet an appealing prospect I did finally make it home to find some substantial books waiting for me. Most pleasing is the first of RAF pilot Paul Bewsher’s books that I’ve yet seen in a jacket. Having already got a nice signed copy of the book sans jacket the question arose of whether to take the jacket from the former & place it on the later. Questions of retaining the historic continuity of the book exercised me for several seconds and then I switched them. I bought it from Colophon Books who also sent in the image of Edmond Genet’s letters, the first US flyer to be killed flying the Stars & Stripes. Also a fine jacket on a fairly routine Chaplain’s memoir & a biography of the Chaplain by his wife.
4th July
A remarkable new catalogue from John Marrin has just arrived by e-
30th June
A 1 page addition from me today to celebrate a superb exhibition which has recently
opened at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Called ‘A Crisis of Brilliance’ after a recent
book of the same name, it focuses on a group of 6 artists who studied at the Slade
in London just prior to the War. 5 of the 6, Spencer, Nash, Nevinson, Bomberg & Gertler
went on to produce some of the finest art to come out of the War much of which is
represented here. Remarkably the poet, Isaac Rosenberg, was also studying there at
the same time but sadly does not feature in the exhibition. The British Artists at
the Front series shown below contains some of the most powerful art produced by 2
of the group, Nash & Nevinson. If you haven’t been yet it’s well worth the short
journey by train from Victoria to see it -
26th June
It looks as if the spat between the military and the literary historians is beginning to heat up. A recent letter in the press from a group of the later pleading for the forthcoming centenaries to be a remembrance of the fallen rather than a celebration of the victory was met with a predictable response from Professor Sheffield. Without wishing to come down too strongly on the literary side I must say Sheffield’s contention that the justification for the 1st War was equal to that for the 2nd is rather rich. To equate the inevitable clash of Empires that was the Great War with the lunatics of the 3rd Reich is hardly tenable. As you can see from the less than essential nature of today’s offerings the well is most definitely running dry. I see I only had 2 visitors yesterday. It hardly seems to be worth the effort but as it costs very little I shall certainly keep it online until the Centenary of the Armistice.
22nd June
A motley crew today selected from my dwindling band of reserves. The UK edition of
Robert Service’s Poems from that source of bargain books, Peter Harrington; A novel
of the Lafayette Escadrille; the account of a German spy in the British censors office
& a battered copy of the history of the West Riding Territorials in the Great War.
(I’ve thought of giving this website a sub-
18th June
As expected the June Fairs yielded very little for me. The 1st collected edition
of Rupert Brooke’s poems from 1918 was the only book to catch my eye & wallet!. Elsewhere,
I’d not seen a jacketed copy of Wilfred Owen’s poems in many a long year but there
were 2 within yards of each other at the ABA -
12th June
Somewhat later than usual which rather reflects the paucity of new material. Ever hopeful of this weeks bookfairs, although why I bother with the ABA I don’t know. It’s a bit like going to Bond Street in search of a cheap watch! I think I’ve bought 3 books there in the last 30 years. A lengthy trawl of the Internet has turned up 3 of today’s offerings plus a later issue of Coningsby Dawson’s ‘Love of an Unknown Soldier’ from the latest Turner Donovan Catalogue 124. Unfortunately I got up too late to secure a long sought after item, Arthur Osburn’s ‘Unwilling Passenger’. Now I know one of you has bought it but do you REALLY need it!!
6th June
Nick Fletcher has sent in what we both agree must qualify as one of the most boring
of jackets. One can imagine the conversation the publishers may have had with the
author over this -
2nd June
Thanks to Renzo for providing today’s opener, G. H. Cunningham’s account of the career
of Squadron Leader McGregor who flew with the 54th & 85th Squadrons during the War.
Published in NZ, as far as I can tell there has been no UK publication to date. A
later issue of Keble Chatterton’s ‘Konigsberg Adventure’ but with a different jacket
-
29th May
A 1st of Heath Robinson’s amusing pictures of the War, an interesting anti-
24th May
Back from a slightly soggy Italy to find Reginald Farrer’s ‘Void of War’ waiting for me. This horticultural writer visited the battlefields in Flanders & Italy as well as reporting from Paris. Cyril Falls quite liked his descriptions of the front but thought his views from Paris were mostly those seen from the Ritz hotel.Also a biography of Jellicoe, a Russian novel of the War written by a former soldier & a biography of a white Russian Cossack who worked with the British during the Russian Revolution.
13th May
Today’s first 2 books are currently on E-
8th May
I’m glad to see book sales are not declining as quickly as predicted in the face
of the rampant e-
4th May
The 4 POW memoirs shown below are all wrappered pamphlets, but as they are rare & have since disappeared from the Turner Donovan website I thought I’d better record them here as they may never be seen again. I’ve also added 3 other volumes from the same catalogue. These are now all at the foot of the paperbacks page & won’t appear in the main index.
30th April
Another offering from the latest Turner Donovan catalogue is Major Sandes account
of his time as a Turkish POW -
26th April
Rather pushed for time so apologies for this brief intro. Today’s books are : a biography of Foch, Haig by his wife, a short history by Liddell Hart & an autobiography of the author of the ‘Sky Pilot’ books.
22nd April
Today I’ve unashamedly taken all the books from the new Turner Donovan catalogue
no. 123. This one has a section of POW memoirs which must be one of the best to be
offered for sale for many years. Without, I hope, sounding too sycophantic, I’m in
constant awe of Tom’s ability to source new material. I know this bi-
Financial constraints mean that only 1 of these books is coming my way, but Long’s ‘Other Ranks of Kut’ is, I think, the most important. Nearly all of the Kut memoirs were written by officers whose fate was little different to their fellows elsewhere. The other ranks story, which is told here, was far more terrible & led to the deaths of 70% of their number. It’s also the only copy I’ve seen in it’s jacket.
17th April
I last saw Acland’s ‘All Else is Folly’ in John Marrin’s Catalogue no.48 where it was priced at £85. I failed to buy it then as I did so many of the wonderful books he managed to find all those years ago. Now of course I’ve had to pay much more but when a book becomes an obsession economic considerations fly out of the window. ‘Soldier’s Luck’ was published by the vanity publisher Stockwell in 1965, but JRF has pointed out to me that Croney’s account of his time with the 12th Essex has become somewhat of a classic so I’m including this old image of what is now a rare book. And thanks to Brian Busby for these improved images of Lord Beaverbrooke’s account of the Canadian forces on the Western Front.
13th April
Today’s opener is the UK edition of Dennis’ ‘Moods of Ginger Mick’. The best I can
say about it is the jacket by Hal Gye is quite appealing. It’s front-
9th April
Sorry this is late arriving but I’ve been on an extended break in France testing
out my new boy’s toy -
2nd April
A mildly interesting batch before the Easter break, including a humorous American novel of a doughboys love affairs behind the lines, an English novel of a Naval officers affairs in the years between Victoria’s death & the Armistice & a rather nicely illustrated volume of verse from the Dardanelles. When I return I should have received what appears to be an interesting new bibliography of the Official Histories of the War & an original 1922 copy of the Principal Events volume from that series found on ABE for £12 !!
29th March
A big thank you to one of my contributors for agreeing to sell me his copy of one
of the restricted volumes of the Official History. Worryingly this book, in near
mint condition, has come from the withdrawn stock of the Imperial War Museum. Although
they still hold 2 other copies one wonders why such a rare & valuable item was allowed
to go, especially as it eventually ended up on Ebay for £10!! Another reason why
those of us with important collections should think again about leaving them to any
Institution -
25th March
A further erosion to the number of real books on ABE seems to be happening. I was
searching today for a copy of Clutha Mackenzie’s elusive ‘Tale of a Trooper’ and
ABE initially returned 92 copies. Hitting the ‘Not Print-
21st March
Last Saturday’s Lewes bookfair has thrown up today’s opener in the form of a French
memoir of Secret Service activity during the War. The striking jacket is only identified
as being by ‘BW’. Martel’s ‘Wake of the Tank’ was here already but this is the enlarged
edition from 1935 which details 3 further years of development. Plus 2 further volumes
from David Pritchard’s collection ( I must apologise for the state of the Manchester’s
volume -
17th March
Continuing with the War poetry theme today. Firstly this superb jacket image on Gilbert Frankau’s ‘City of Fear’ brought to my attention by Timothy D’Arch Smith, Gilbert’s grandson. This is an edition published a year after the first but still carrying the same image. I’ve pulled another volume of Frankau’s War poems out of my collection to go with it. Reilly is silent on Capt. Blackall but the volume is more than noteworthy for its cover image by the ubiquitous Helen McKie. Plus a POW memoir from Lt. Col. Bond of the KOYLI.
13th March
More poems & Dane’s book on the Campaigns in the Near East, but the outstanding book
today has been supplied by the Pritchards -
9th March
I shall be at a friends wedding when I should be writing this so I’ve confined myself to a single volume today, a product of Tom Donovan’s latest catalogue. ‘War & its Glories’ by Ex Private J. G. McLean is without doubt the bitterest, most disillusioned memoir of the War I’ve ever come across. Hardly anyone escapes his wrath. I can find little about the book on the net other than to say that he was a Regimental Stretcher Bearer with the 15th Australian Infantry Brigade. Being published in 1920 it rather casts doubt on the presumption held by today’s historians that this attitude to the War didn’t set in until the late 20s. A full text of the book can be read here.
5th March
I thought I’d draw all of today’s images from Tom Donovan’s latest catalogue (122) which has a large selection of War poetry. My own collection originally focused on the major War poets but with only a few gaps remaining (any spare jacketed Brooke or Owen gratefully received!) I’m now tempted to add a few of the minor ones, four of which are displayed below. The De Stein is a common book but the jacket is rarely seen & the Asquith is more commonly encountered as a wrappered 1st but this 2nd edition is much enlarged, Plus the 2nd of ‘Woodbine Willies’ volumes of poetry (I’ve added a few more volumes alongside it) & some poems from a Captain in the RAMC.
1st March
Let me firstly recommend a book I’ve just read -
25th February
I braved the piercing cold on Friday to visit the Cambridge Book Fair. What a first-
21st February
It’s always pleasing to bring a writer onto the site who should have been here long
ago. As a lifelong collector of War Poetry I’d despaired of finding a jacket for
one of Francis Ledwidge’s few volumes of verse but now I. D. Edrich has found me
one for his ‘Last Songs’. Ledwidge is what you might call a major minor poet but
his lyrical bucolic poems rise well above the average. A welcome batch of new images
from David Pritchard will be filtered in over the following weeks -
17th February
A few days ago I made my first foray into online auction bidding. If you haven’t
done this before then beware -
13th February
Today’s opening pair serves to demonstrate one of this sites many failings -
9th February
Just back from the continent so only time for a quick comment on today's offerings. I’ve had the Doroshevitch for some time, more for its Stephen Graham introduction than for any great interest in the German invasion of Russia. For a 1916 book this is surprisingly more often encountered in its jacket than without. The fact that said jacket has the weight of thin cardboard probably accounts for it. A shame they didn’t all use the same paper. An account of the work of the American Red Cross & of the Irish Regiments in the early part of the War. And another of Keble Chatterton’s many naval volumes.
1st February
Today’s first offering is a privately printed nursing memoir by Frances Bulstrode called ‘Some...Helps’. It deals somewhat briefly with her time at an English convalescence hospital and then at a similar place for badly wounded German prisoners in Switzerland. I can only find 2 other copies, one in Dublin & one in the Bodlean. A rather disappointing jacket for the UK edition of Bennett’s ‘Lord Raingo’ but a splendid Art Deco image, sent in by Fons Oltheten, for Helen Long’s novel ‘The Girl He Left Behind’. Unfortunately I can find no information on the novel’s content which is also the case for Ross Kay’s ‘Fighting in France’ other than that it is part of ‘The Big War’ series.
28th January
I’m taking the easy option today in that all the new entries are going on the same
page -
24th January
A suitably snowy start to today’s offerings in the shape of ‘Resurrection Rock’ by
Edwin Balmer, which tells of a WW1 soldiers trek to the snowy woods of Michigan after
hearing the mysterious voice of a dead soldier (that’s the soldier’s daughter on
the jacket). Plus the US edition of Carrillo’s ‘Among the Ruins’, the Spanish War
Correspondent’s view of the War after the Marne & 2 more books for the Anthologies
page -
20th January
Having just bought John Still’s ‘A Prisoner in Turkey’ I’m now only 4 volumes short
of acquiring the whole of the ‘On Active Service Series’ that Bodley Head published
between 1919 & 1922, so if anyone can help with these remaining 4 I’d be most grateful.
They are Ellen Davies ‘Ward Tales’, Daryl Klein ‘With the Chinks’, Clutha Mackenzie
‘Tale of a Trooper’ & Beatrice Thompson ‘Four Months in Italy in War-
16th January
I’ve just been reading a new book ‘Dust-
12th January
The most important book to come my way in the past few days won’t really make it to the site. It’s a proof copy of Wilfred Ewart’s ‘Way of Revelation’ inscribed to the once popular American poet Vachel Lindsay & with an introductory letter from Ewart mentioning their joint acquaintance with fellow Guardsman Stephen Graham. This is the only 1st of this title I’ve seen in years & it was especially nice to find it signed bringing one, as it does, that much closer to the author. Ewart met his tragic end only weeks after sending Lindsay this book. The only other book of real interest I’ve acquired is today’s first entry, May Bradford’s ‘Hospital Letter Writer in France’. This is the only record of this charitable occupation I’ve ever encountered which probably brought as much comfort to the wounded as the treatment they received. I’d also like to bring to your attention Trafford Books, listing on ABE, who seem to have acquired a large selection of Women’s War memoirs which they are slowly filtering onto the site.
8th January
I fear I will have to start updating the site less often as the number of images
coming my way has almost dried up. The first of today’s batch is the last for the
moment from MarkTerry. I’ve had the novel, ‘Blighty’, for many years but have not
seen the jacket before. Not in Hager & Taylor, it is set mostly on the home front
while our hero is in the trenches fighting the friends he made in Germany before
the War. Hospital Sketches probably never had a jacket but is here as an important
nursing memoir. The author Frances ‘Dot’ Lyndall was the niece of Olive Schreiner
(Story of an African Farm). Some War-
4th January 2013
Firstly let me draw your attention to a new source of books on the Web. The actor
Neil Pearson has taken up a secondary occupation as an antiquarian bookseller & has
launched his new website -
Of today’s books the Biard is only slightly concerned with the War but of interest
nonetheless & Strange Intelligence deals with the Naval Secret Service before & during
the War. Over Here is described as a Super-
28th December
Having bought the first item on today’s list I thought I’d see how many winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature had written about the War (10 of them I think) before belatedly realising that Berta Ruck wasn’t Pearl Buck. Such confusion means I need a break so I’m off to France for a few days, as much to escape the rigours of probate as anything else. And also another rarity in Erichsen’s ‘Forced to Fight’ from Heinemann’s ‘Soldier’s Tales’ series supplied again by Mark Terry. Many thanks to him for his sterling restorations.
24th December
A Happy Christmas to anyone still reading this. A nice snowy offering for the Festive Season by way of a mega rare jacket on E. W. Hornung’s ‘Notes of a Camp Follower on the Western Front’, courtesy of Mark Terry & a lovely later jacket for Ira Jones biography of Mick Mannock. Russell’s ‘Machine Gun Corps’ is only the cloth binding but I thought I’d put it on to show what the 1st edition binding should look like. There is a copy available on ABE at the moment in black lettered red cloth but that is a later cheap issue binding.
20th December
Firstly I’d like to say a heartfelt Thank You to all those of you who wrote to me regarding my mother’s death. It was very sad but she was nearly 95 & had been ill for some time. Still walking some 5 miles a day until 2 years ago I just hope her fitness gene is lurking somewhere in me (it hasn’t expressed itself yet). Amongst today’s offerings is the first of a rare batch of jackets, Schauwecker’s ‘The Furnace’, unearthed for us by Mark Terry & from me a disappointingly bland covering for the survey of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals.
16th December
Sadly my mother Winifred Hewer died a few days ago so I’m limiting today’s entry to 2 wraparound jackets.
12th December
I see that if you search for ‘Great War’ in Google then this site comes up on p.2
which isn’t bad out of some 12 million hits. Sadly we do fall behind a couple of
re-
8th December
A recent chance finding of a rather delightful book ‘Across France in War-
4th December
A rather virulent attack of the Norovirus has had me sitting elsewhere than at my
computer so apologies for the lateness & briefness of this entry. I’ll just mention
what may be my last find in my quest for books on Women War Workers -
29th November
Continuing my quest for books concerning Women on War Work I’ve managed to unearth
a couple more rarities. A. K. Foxwell’s ‘Munition Lasses’ gives a slightly sanitised
but none-
25th November
Today’s opener shows an interesting aspect of book marketing in WW2 ; how do you
sell a book about flying bi-
21st November
Having just acquired the 1961 issue of ‘The Blockade of Germany’, I’ve made a few
minor alterations to the Official History page. I see now that there’s no point in
trying to find the 1937 issue as this one comprises the same sheets newly bound and
with a small sticker placed over the restriction notice. ‘The Bagging of Baghdad’
was here already but only as a monochrome image -
17th November
Having at last managed to find a copy of Hall Caine’s ‘Our Girls’ (already on-
13th November
Some additions to the ‘On Active Service’ & other series page. I find that the Hodder & Stoughton series called ‘The Soldier Books’ also includes an element called ‘The Sailor Books’ I can only find 2 members of the series which I’ve added to the page. Both are scarce but neither could be called essential to one’s Great War library consisting of some minor short stories & some mediocre poetry. Lewis Hind’s Soldier Boy shows how uplifting War is to ones moral fibre! & the US edition of Blake’s ‘Valiant Heart’
9th November
A beautifully restored jacket from Mark Terry for a rare novel I’ve previously sung
the praises of ‘No Names, No Pack-
5th November
Another milestone passed -
1st November
Why is Mr. Chips on the site? Hardly a ‘War’ book I know but having just read it
I find that the strain of melancholy that pervades the novel is somehow connected
with the loss of a generation and a way of life brought about by the War. The latter
section of the book does cover the War years & shrapnel falls on the school quad
as a result of anti-
28th October
Another jacket that I’ve long coveted has been unearthed by Mark Terry -
24th October
Probably the most important jacket to appear on the site is the first of today’s entries, Anthony Bertram’s ‘The Sword Falls’, unearthed for us by Mark Terry of the Facsimile Dust Jackets site. The novel itself, telling the story of an elderly cockney clerk & the effects of the War on his family, is secondary in importance to its jacket. Designed by Eric Ravilious, it has long been sought by Ravilious’ scholars as up until now there has been no record of its appearance and doubts were raised as to whether it was ever produced. Forward with the Fifth gives the only private soldiers view of service with that Battalion of the A.I.F.. War Phases is one of those amusing Home front books of stories of a society lady & the how the War affects her socialising & there are 2 jacket variants for Bruno Brehm’s novel of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand.
20th October
I’m spoilt for choice at the moment. First off is Talbot Mundy’s novelised account of the first Indian troops on the Western Front, their capture & escape followed by the long trek back to India. Very much in the Kipling manner. Fanny Went to War is Pat Beauchamp’s 1940 revision of her 1919 account of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry ‘Fanny Goes to War’. Interestingly this copy is signed by 22 surviving F.A.N.Ys. The Frederick Palmer is a US journalists account of the Somme battle & at last the UK edition of George Godwin’s ‘Why Stay We Here’ , a novel giving a Canadian view of the War.
16th October
A deluge of books from Fons Oltheten in Holland has allowed me to take the easy option
today in that all the books are on the same page. I don’t know how many Tom Slade
voluimes there are but we now have 5 on-
12th October
It was good to hear our PM announcing great plans for the forthcoming Centenaries,
hopefully to include some recognition of the role of War literature in keeping the
memories alive. Even he however made the usual mistake in relation to the number
killed on the first day of the Somme, inflating it in this case ten fold. Today’s
batch includes a book I’d despaired of ever seeing -
8th October
Sorry for the long gap, I was in Brittany in the rain. I return to find it’s been raining books as well. Firstly from Tom Donovan’s latest catalogue a scarce copy of Enid Bagnold’s ‘Diary Without Dates’ in which she incurred the displeasure of her colleagues by recounting her time as a VAD in an English Hospital in the early years of the War. An Airman’s Outings is already on site but this appears to be a proof copy in boards evidenced by the blank price label on the front. Captain Lockhart’s is a rare view of the campaigns in the Holy Land & David Fallon tells of his varied career with both British & Australian Battalions at Gallipoli & on the Somme. There have also been some additions to the ANZAC bindings page.
27th September
Just 2 books today but I’ve re-
23rd September
Well the last moment came & a whole slew of new books arrived. Having acquired further
series additions I’ve decided to add to the “On Active Service Series” page with
two of the other multiple narrative sets issued by other publishers during the War
-
19th September
Mark has only just left & already another superb jacket has turned up. ‘War in the Underseas’ by Harold Wheeler is a popular history of submarine activity during the War. I shall be sending him a scan so it will eventually be available. It’s a super image although I’m doubtful that such a manoeuvre would be too popular with the crew! I keep wondering if I can keep up this 1 new image a day rate but something always seems to turn up at the last moment.
14th September
To the horror of some but hopefully to the delight of many I’ve let Mark Terry of
Facsimile Dust Jackets L.L.C. scan the contents of my library. This should mean that
approximately half the jackets on this site will be available in facsimile for those
of you that despair of finding the real thing to cover your books. Mark restores
the jackets to be as close to their original condition as possible, but they are
clearly marked on the inside front flap as being facsimiles. I know that some dealers
have expressed reservations about this enterprise in that these jackets may be passed
of by the more unscrupulous as the real thing. Frankly I think that only a fool would
be so deceived -
9th September
It’s too nice a day to be stuck on the computer so just a couple of additions to the Pictorial’s page, a compilation of War songs from St. John Adcock & a Canadian Subaltern’s letters to his mother.
4th September
Now that my Kipling collection has come together again (after the rearrangement)
I thought it time to include another of his many works. Sea Warfare brings together
3 slim war-
1st September
One of the great benefits of a book having retained its jacket is the amount of useful
information it often carries. This was proved the other day. Rearranging the books
means you see them anew & my eye fell on A H Davis’ ‘Extracts from the Diaries of
a Tommy’. On the rear of the jacket was a list of books including ‘No Names -
30th August
A change of study has given me the opportunity to re-
26th August
Parade’s End -
20th August
A longer than expected absence due to the longer than expected construction time
required to build a summerhouse! The latest Turner Donovan catalogue has provided
2 of the images below -
13th August
Sheer laziness on returning from France, & the fact that the numbers visiting this
site have fallen to an all-
6th August
Off to France to escape from the Olympics for a few days. All of today’s additions
are from on-
1st August
Taking a break from the rigours of Olympic Beach Volleyball to bring you some new pictures courtesy of two of my regular contributors. The Commandant of the British War Dogs school tells of the valuable & moral boosting part played by the dogs of War ; a Regimental history of the 2nd Birminghams, the US edition of Swinton’s Tank history & the letters of the social reformer Frederick Keeling who was awarded the MM after his death at Delville Wood in 1916.
28th July
By far the most stunning image amongst today’s batch has to be that for the US edition of Redvers Dent’s ‘Show Me Death’. Found during a routine trawl of the ‘net it’s a vast improvement on the plain typographical jacket used on the UK edition from Constable. The only discernable signature seems to be ‘Gene’ but this must surely take its place alongsidet the very best of the era. The Ronald Gurner is a wrappered volume of War poetry, some of which has a certain power. I show it because it has a striking resemblance to the image used on the jacket of his more famous novel ‘Pass Guard at Ypres’.
24th July
I recently paid a visit to Charleston Farmhouse near Lewes -
17th July
To make up for the last rather drab additions here are 4 very colourful jackets courtesy
of David & Helen Pritchard. The first tells of the authors time with the Black Watch
at Mons & the Marne. Field Ambulance Sketches is from the elusive ‘On Active Service
Series’ (I’ve managed to find 2 more of these today -
13th July
The only 2 books to come my way in the last 4 days are Noakes’ Distant Drum’ which
is on-
9th July
My apologies to those of you who may have sent in todays images -
5th July
Back from France to find another Stephen Graham waiting for me. This one tells of his trip to Russia in 1916 & reports how the War has affected various aspects of Russian life. I bought ‘Two Sticks’ from Ebay on the strength of its listing in Enser. It barely qualifies as a War book though. Slade was in the Royal Naval Reserve and whilst there is a little detail of his time with them in barracks in England his subsequent reliance on 2 walking sticks was as a result of osteoarthritis rather than enemy action.
28th June
I thought I had all of Scots Guardsman Stephen Graham’s War books but I was wrong. Several of his travel books in Russia deal directly with the consequences of the War there & the novel ‘St Vitus Day’ tells the story of the assassination at Sarajevo that started the whole thing off. I should have been aware of it before as it forms the opening section of Bernard Newman’s ‘Anthology of Armageddon’. Thanks to Nick Fletcher for the account of the mutiny aboard the German High Fleet which goes nicely with the Plivier volumes featured recently. And the final volume of the fictitious memoirs of ‘WAAC’ for which I have unfortunately mislayed the publishing details.
24th June
I see 4 of the choicest jacketed items from the last Turner Donovan catalogue have
found their way to the Peter Harrington catalogue. Too bad if you missed out as they’ll
now cost you 2 -
20th June
Another day, another Gift Book. This time from Dame Nelly Melba presenting the best
of Australian Art & Literature for the Belgian Relief Fund. I still fail to see how
these things made any money -
18th June
A further episode in the dispersal of the Thomas Hope Floyd (‘At Ypres with Best-
16th June
Some pictures from the latest Turner Donovan catalogue & an Australian flying memoir from me. The Briggs & Harris concerns flying & instructing with the RFC. The other 3 art books have pictures from Sir William Orpen, Martin Swayne (Maurice Nicoll) in Mesopotamia & a fine collection of War art compiled by Sir John Rothenstein.
12th June
Coming back a little early here but when a book turns up after 25 years of searching then it’s worth the interruption. Harold Spender has long passed into the shadows as a novelist but he remains an important figure historically as the father of the poet Stephen Spender. I first saw this novel in the late 80’s in Peter Jolliffe’s long defunct ‘Ulysses Bookshop’ near the BM. It was part of a batch of WW1 rarities he’d acquired but at £55 & only being able to afford one of them I settled instead for Hope’s ‘Winding Road Unfolds’, certainly the more important book. The Spender is a charming story of a young village lad who joins up in 1914 & sees the war through to the end. It’s a mix of training, France & the home front. Spender himself was too old to fight so there isn’t much realism here so I’m hard pushed to say why I’ve coveted it for so long. Maybe it’s the evocative jacket design or just the fact that it got away so long ago. I’ve also added some books by the poet Herbert Read to page 24
10th June
Probably the most interesting of today’s books is Freiwald’s account of Bolshevism below decks in the German Fleet leading to its failure on the High seas, a factual account to complement Plivier’s novel ‘The Kaiser’s Coolies’. The Battles of the Marne gives the views of both sides in the 2 major battles, a biography of the French Air Ace Guynemer & finally an analysis of the War’s origins by a former Directeur of the Musee de Grande Guerre.
6th June
A dramatic jacket for Kellermann’s ‘9th of November’ which describes the life in Berlin & at the front in the last few days of the War. More from Admiral Keyes on Gallipoli, a memorial volume for an American pilot killed towards the end of the War & a novel describing life in London during the German advance in early 1918.
2nd June
Back from Berlin to find a super copy of Yeates ‘Winged Victory’ waiting for me. This was soon eclipsed by finally unearthing a jacketed ‘Way of Revelation’. A 1928 impression but still only the second copy of any early printing of this book that I’ve seen. The superb jacket image shows a cloud formation of soldiers over an evening landscape rather reminiscent of that for Tell England. The escaping memoir ‘Within Four Walls’ was onsight already but only in b & w. The other 2 come from John Etheridges’ fine collection.
20th May
The last post for a while as I’m off to visit the capital of the former enemy. Tim
Harrington’s memoir is only partially concerned with the War where he was on the
staff with Plumer in the 2nd army. The Cutchins also concerns a staff officer, this
time with the AEF at the Meusse-
16th May
A very brief stop between European trips means I don’t have the time for a full update,
so I thought I’d rather belatedly celebrate the 5th anniversary of the site by showing
some of the books I’d most like to see in their jackets but of which no hide nor
hair has been seen. Geoffrey Malins flawed but fascinating account of filming on
the Western Front must turn up one day -
10th May
Today’s opener is one of those important volumes that I’m sure was never graced with
a jacket -
6th May
There’ll be some gaps in the next few weeks as I swan off around Europe. Today’s
batch shows the memoirs of Herbert Buckmaster, Capt. in the RHG, Gladys Cooper’s
husband & originator of the club where the Buck’s Fizz was created. 2 Generals memoirs,
those of J.F.C.Fuller of the Tank Corps & rather more controversially those of the
C.-
1st May
If you’ve ever searched for rare WW1 books on Amazon, chances are you’ll find the
book listed by a dealer called ‘southend-
27th April
So many new books to add that I’m coming in a day early. Prompted by the latest Turner
Donovan catalogue all of today’s books concern the Russian Revolution but have their
feet firmly grounded in the Great War. Pravdin’s ‘Double Eagle’ is set in Petrograd
before & during the War, ‘Youth Uncharted’ starts with the War & moves on to the
Revolution & beyond, ‘Red Flag Runs Up’ describes the horrors of Moscow during the
Red Terror & Krassnoff’s ‘White Coat’ is a novel of a counter-
24th April
Yesterday brought an excellent new Catalogue No. 116 from Turner Donovan with lots
of temptations -
20th April
I bought ‘In the Whirlpool of War’ on a whim. The author chronicles her journey from
the Ardennes to Paris in the early days of the War & describes the destruction wrought
by the Germans on the French countryside & of the bombing of Rheims. A little further
research however shows that she was the sister of the drug-
16th April
Firstly a thank you to John Etheridge for providing me with a nice batch of new images
foremost of which is a complete jacket for Cuddeford’s ‘And All for What’ to replace
the damaged one already on site & ‘Recollections of an Airman’ in a later issue jacket
from Hutchinson but with a fine image. Downes ‘With the Nigerians’ is a not uncommon
book of a little covered campaign but the only example I’ve seen in its jacket. The
letters of Captain Neville is here as part of my inclusion of books that were probably
always jacketless but shouldn’t be omitted. It tells of his time with the 43rd &
52nd Ox & Bucks Light Infantry from 1917 to the Russian Campaign of 1919. Privately
printed in 1930 it should be popular with todays Revisionist historians as he seems
to have thoroughly enjoyed his time at the front even when taking a bullet in the
arm! It’s an excellent read and strangely has been overlooked by the Print-
13th April
Back from a long Easter break in France to find a superb bibliography waiting for
me -
5th April
There are some aspects of the War that have not been previously written about, writes
Henri Barbusse, in his introduction to H.J.Proumen’s ‘In a Strange Land’. In this
case that aspect is the lives of Belgian refugees living in England during the War.
Originally published in France as ‘Les Transplantes en Albion’ this is a scarce book,
the only other copy I can find is a jacketless one on Amazon. The Cross of Carl is
an allegorical, opium-
1st April
No sooner do I hope for a copy of the original ‘Wind in the Wires’ than Bob Liska of the Colophon Bookshop provides. Many thanks to him. The C S Forester is strictly outside the limits of this site being from 1951 but it completes the quartet of WW1 books written by him so I thought it best to include it. The Highland Regiments volume is here chiefly for its jacket as the Great War is only tagged on as a final chapter, the book being originally published in 1915. And a Pathologists letters from the Salonika front.
28th March
Nick Fletcher has sent me another copy of Grinnell-
24th March
Today’s first offering is rather unusual in being only the title page of a rebound
paperback. I unearthed it a few days ago from my garage & an internet search reveals
it to be rather rare. A lightly fictionalised account of the authors time with the
Royal Fusiliers throughout the War it is the rarest publication of Jack Kahane’s
Obelisk Press in Paris from 1933 (better known as a publisher of Erotica). A recent
bibliography of the press only lists a single known copy. Well, now there are two!
There was a limited re-
20th March
Sheer lazyness makes me pick all of today’s images from the ever excellent Babylon Revisited website ( & also the failure to find anything worth buying lately!). Only McClure’s ‘Some Found Adventure’ finds mention in Hager & Taylor so I’ve had to rely on Babylon’s descriptions as to the other books contents. For those of you eagerly awaiting Tom Donovan’s new bibliography of Memorial volumes he tells me it is nearing completion so hopefully not too long to wait now.
16th March
Along with the 20th Divisional History are a couple of those important memoirs issued
only in soft covers but worthy of inclusion in the main body of the site -
12th March
Today’s post bought the UK edition of Von Rintelen’s memoirs of his time as a German saboteur of American shipping. Clearly a popular memoir, this being the 7th large printing. Also a fine history of the 23rd Division & a touch of Scottish humour with Wee MacGreegor which I’ve just ordered even though the Glaswegian vernacular may prove hard to follow.
8th March 2012
Back from France to find some fine books on the mat. Most notably a copy of Capt.
Dunn’s chronicle of the 2nd Batt. RWF ‘The War the Infantry Knew’. I saw this in
a shop in Honiton 25 years ago but thought the £12 being asked was too much!! Also
an escaping memoir by Captain Caunter ‘13 Days’. It bears the signature of Thomas
Hope Floyd who wrote ‘At Ypres with Best Dunkley’ He died in 1973 and left his books
to the Lancashire Record Office who passed them on to Salford University Library.
Given that they only came into existence in 1992 they don’t seem to have hung on
to them for too long. I had thought of leaving my collection to a library -
29th February
A couple of Divisional histories from Tom Donovan. I thought of doing a dedicated
page for them but so far I only have images for 12 of the 45 or so Divisional Histories
that were published within our time-
25th February
There are some books that clearly never had a dust jacket but are far too important
to be left off the site or buried in some obscure corner. I shall be introducing
a few such titles over the coming months but thought I’d start here with one of the
rarest -
22nd February
A mixed selection today -
17th February
Today’s batch all come from the Yesterday’s Gallery/Babylon Revisited catalogue.
And just a brief note to say that the new Turner Donovan website is up and running
efficiently after a few teething problems -
13th February
Renzo has sent me some improved images for the W E Johns page so I think it’s worth showing here the superb wraparound jacket by Howard Leigh for ‘Biggles of the Camel Squadron’. The modern jackets used on recent limited reprints are fine in their way but are no substitute for the originals of Leigh, Bradshaw & Johns himself.
9th February
With the passing of Florence Green our last direct link with the War has gone. However
there are still many people alive who had an indirect experience of the conflict.
Those who were children at the time may remember their fathers coming home on leave,
troops marching through the streets, maybe hearing the guns & probably some French
& Belgians who were involved in the evacuation of war-
5th February
Surrounded by this winters first snow fall I’m trying to warm up after filling the bird feeders. It’s almost impossible to imagine how trench life must have been in weather like this! Today’s books all come from David Pritchards fine collection. Each of the books can be had on the net but only the Bairnsfather anthology seems to be obtainable in a jacket. (the UK edition of the Tank Corps is available jacketed from Peter Harringtons).
1st February
Back from a long weekend in Bath. Such an elegant city but now deprived of most of
its second-
28th January
A Scottish Nurse from Bodley Head’s ‘On Active Service Series’ was on-
25th January
Downton Abbey, War Horse & now Birdsong -
The first 2 books today have been shamelessly lifted from the excellent new Turner Donovan website so apologies to those of you who may now own these volumes. The Arch Whitehouse is a collection of short flying stories some of which are War based & Sir Alfred Ewing ran the Naval decryption operations which deciphered the Zimmerman telegram that helped bring America into the War .
21st January
At last Tom Donovan is launching his new website -
The most welcome image today is that by Fred Leist for the Boyd Cable re-
17th January
Not the most interesting of selections but I’m running low on images as a few books
are still mid-
13th January
I usually find that personal reminiscences by the clergy can be rather unenlightening but not so Rev. Creighton’s account of the Gallipoli landings with the 29th Division. Always in the thick of the action & with a wealth of fine images this is well worth seeking out & quite easy to find sans jacket (I have a spare if anyone wants it). The Ward Price is a War Correspondents view but useful nonetheless & with good pics..
9th January
I thought I’d update my Buchan listings replacing my later 39 Steps (price 2/-
5th January 2012
Back from France & a Happy New Year to both my readers! A big thank you is due to Bob Liska of the Colophon Bookshop for this excellent quartet of Flying books which he sent in late last year. This is definitely the first place to look for WW1 Flying memoirs. James McCudden’s memoir of the RFC is particularly welcome as this may be the only remaining copy in its original rather flimsy jacket. Also Col. Tennants memoir of his time whilst CO of the RFC in Mesopotamia, although fairly easy to find is almost unknown in its jacket. An Airman’s Wife is a true story composed of a series of poignant letters between the wife & her husband in the RFC.
28th December
3 US editions to finish off the year. Pliver’s ‘Kaiser’s Coolies’ tells of the growing unrest below decks on one of the German High Seas Fleet ships which would eventually lead to revolution (His other War novel, ‘The Kaiser Goes, the Generals Remain’ is making its slow way to me from Canada). A very Deco sleeve for the US edition of Fokkers biography & a War play from 1915 which would be made into a film the following year starring Nazimova & Richard Barthelmess.
24th December
Just one image today as we wind down to Christmas. A booklet of cartoons from 1915
to accompany a list of pre-
Merry Christmas to anyone still reading this.
20th December
I was so pleased to unearth this rare survivor that it deserves to be today’s sole
entry. It’s one of a series of 7 books published by Heinemann in 1915-
16th December
As the winter winds have whipped the seas around here into a frenzy I thought it
might be appropriate to show some new Naval books. ‘Blue Peter’ is described as a
romance of the Great War but I can find no further information on it. Count Luckner
was a larger-
12th December
It’s always nice of a morning to get those little e-
8th December
Sorry if today’s batch looks a little too sentimental but it’s remarkable how many books on animals in War have been published, at least in America. Given that an estimated 8 million horses & mules were killed let alone countless dogs, pigeons etc. then I think they deserve their place amongst the rest of the casualties.
Yesterday I was in Cecil Court, that long established street of antiquarian bookshops
in London. Sadly it seems to be going the way of all high streets these days. 2 more
of the shops have gone to be replaced with non-
4th December
Today’s first book is another Escapee memoir. I would think that of all War memoirs these must have been amongst the most popular. Checking the shelves here at Dust Jacket HQ I find that most Trench memoirs were lucky to see a second printing whereas many of the P.O.W. Memoirs often went into 7 or 8 impressions. I suppose they were just more uplifting ; the reason why ‘The Great Escape’ is still our most popular film. Maybe I should gather them all together in a page of their own.
30th November
Inspired by Fons sending in ‘The Box with Broken Seals’ I’ve gathered together a few other novels by E. Phillips Oppenheim. An English Writer who produced over 100 novels he was credited with inventing the Spy thriller. During the War he worked for the Ministry of Information & produced many novels with a wartime theme. These are the only ones I can find in their jackets.
26th November
A big thank you to Fons Oltheten for providing a timely & seasonal batch of images
to take us towards Christmas (yes I know it’s far too early but we’ve already had
over a month of Christmas ads on TV). Riggs ‘With Three Armies’ mentioned last time
has arrived & is worth searching out for the series of fine photographs that illustrate
it. Also a copy of Mother-
22nd November 2011
The first of today’s offerings isn’t with me yet being somewhere over the Atlantic.
It’s a standard journalists account of the War but I couldn’t resist the jacket image
with the dog. The next 2 are somewhat peripheral to the War but are worth inclusion.
The first relates the attempted expansion of French & Spanish empires into Morocco
during the War & the second the fate of Austro-
18th November
A nice group today headed by a seemingly unrecorded novel of life in an air station
on the Cornish coast during the War. The author had a distinguished War record with
the RNAS where he chased Zeppelins & bombed submarines. Yet another of the seemingly
endless but obviously highly popular series of Naval stories produced in the War
years, these ones by Taffrail (Henry Dorling). Plus an appeal to the mothers of America
from Mary Rinehart and a history of the Special London Constabulary during the War.
The books from Peter Harrington mentioned below form part of a Great War catalogue
they’ve produced -
14th November
I thought it might be appropriate to follow Armistice Day with a selection of charitable
Gift books. Several of these were published during the War to raise funds for various
good causes & were clearly very successful judging by the numbers surviving today.
They were extremely good value retailing at 2/6 or 3/-
11/11/11
Remembering.
9th November
A little group of Pictorial bindings today. The delightful Dorothy VAD & the Doctor
is a fairly run-
5th November
I was hoping that yesterdays visit to the Chelsea Bookfair would have provided some
fireworks for today’s batch of books but, as usual, I was to be disappointed. Somehow
the fair has lost its edge over the last few years -
31st October
A motley collection of oddities today. The main picture comes from a recent ABE purchase
& is just a collection of relief maps of the fighting areas published by the Daily
Mail in 1916. It’s remarkable how much better these maps are at conveying the topography
of the battlefields than the usual 2-
27th October
2 rather fine volumes awaiting me on my return from France. One on site already,
Hutchison’s ‘Warrior’, & the one illustrated below, Henry Bordeaux’ biography of
the French Air Ace, Georges-
18th October
It’s always satisfying to unearth what seems to be a previously unrecorded War memoir.
Percy Brown records a life of more than usual interest -
13th October
Ebay comes good at last for one of our contributors by way of Admiral von Reuter’s view of the scuttling of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow. Hurst & Blackett seem to have specialised in publishing late masterpieces on the War, mostly coming at the end of the 30s & so guaranteeing their scarcity for collectors. I’d previously overlooked the Tomlinson, which I’ve now ordered, but Fons has pointed out to me that it contains some descriptions of the authors War service. And finally a couple more Unit histories.
9th October 2011
All of today’s pictures come from our diligent collector in the Netherlands, Fons
Oltheten. Many Thanks. For myself only jacketless books have come my way -
5th October
For some time I’ve considered setting up some new pages devoted to Unit histories
-
1st October
The major purchase for me this week is already on site -
27th September
Back at the coal-
13th September
All today’s additions are taken from Babylon Revisited Rare Books in East Woodstock,
CT, USA. I can’t recommend this seller too highly as their catalogues invariably
display the best selection of vintage dust jackets on the web. There are usually
several WW1 titles scattered around although generally they tend to be the US editions.
There’s a nice copy of the UK edition of Rhodes ‘Mademoiselle from Armentieres’ there
at the moment.Today I got a copy of Captain Browne’s excellent book ‘The Tank in
Action’ Blackwood 1920 -
9th September
Today’s lead book is only of interest for it’s rather engaging cover showing a nurse
emoting over a crashed plane. Its slight story of a young girl whose previous suitors
have all come to grief finding love at the front can only have been published to
cash in on the War book boom. It seems to have vanished without trace. The Graves
is on-
5th September
Another excellent catalogue today from Turner Donovan although even getting up at
7.15 failed to secure me the book I wanted! Some particularly rare Tank memoirs in
there. I see the new series of Downton Abbey will feature the Great War which will
doubtless cause a brief flurry of interest in the conflict -
1st September
A most unlikely addition in the form of this early copy of Erskine Childers ‘Riddle
of the Sands’ from Adrian Harrington Rare Books. Although first published some 11
years before the War, its plot, concerning the discovery of German invasion plans,
so closely prefigures coming events that it can be seen as the precursor of much
of the War literature to follow. It is said that the naval base at Scapa Flow was
built as a result of fears engendered by this novel. The original was published in
1903 but this is the earliest (1916) copy I’ve seen in a jacket. I’ve also added
another line of spine-
28th August
Nothing too exciting today. A couple of US editions & a Captain’s memoir. Ian Hay’s
guide to the Scottish National War Memorial came from what is probably the only full
time second-
23rd August
Further to the last entry I see that the same dealer below has Junger’s ‘Copse 125’ in a jacket for £500. That makes no sense to me as it’s an equally important book but far scarcer than its predecessor. Ah the vagaries of book pricing. Today's books come courtesy of Andrew Harrison in New Zealand who has braved some truly horrendous weather to find them. I thought snow like that was the preserve of we in the northern latitudes.
19th August
I see that only three short months after fetching just over £1000 at the Bloomsbury
auction, Junger’s ‘Storm of Steel’ has been sold on by the London dealer who bought
it for £2250. Does this mean that it & similar War memoirs are going to become ‘Trophy’
books sought out by rich collectors of 20th century highlights. Whilst being a fine
memoir there are several other German accounts on a par with it -
14th August 2011
I’ve just put up another 15 ft. of shelving to accommodate my Naval & Air War books.
The simultaneous purchase of the Bartimeus from Ebay, shown below, made me reflect
on the very different way in which the War in these two services has been recorded.
The Air War, like the ground based campaigns, has largely been recorded by individual
combatants of all ranks, whereas the Naval War, apart from the odd Commanders account,
is largely recorded by serial writers of Sea stories such as Keble Chatterton, Taffrail,
Bartimeus, Klaxon etc. Are there any first-
9th August
A 2nd & final edition of ‘For Remembrance’ detailing the lives of Soldier Poets who have fallen in the War is a generally more substantial publication than the 1st issue & with a more dramatic jacket. Blood & Iron, the title taken from Bismark’s famous speech on German Unification, is a War Correspondent’s view of the devastation in the War zones. & finally some verses written in Hesepe prison camp & the memoirs of Brigadier Cumming dealing with his time in charge of the 91st & 110th Brigades.
2nd August
Last entry for a week & a few more gems from this previously unseen source. Floyd’s
book on Best-
29th July
An earlier than expected update to accommodate some truly spectacular copies that
have come my way. The Gurner is on site already but this copy is as good as it gets
-
27th July
The story of the German surface raider, the Emden, seems to have been narrated more often than that of almost any other ship of the War. Although she operated for only 3 months, she managed to sink some 30 ships before being herself sunk by the Australian Cruiser, Sydney, at the Battle of Cocos on 9th November 1914. The story is told by her 2nd Torpedo officer, Franz Joseph, a seemingly rather lowly rank for a Hohenzollern Prince! Thanks to Nick Fletcher for the later edition of Pollard’s ‘Fire Eater’. Despite the scarcity of the 1st edition it seems to have gone through several printings up until the 2nd War probably helped by Pollard’s burgeoning reputation as a thriller writer.
22nd July
2 books from JRF today including a very welcome copy of the US edition of Anthony
Bertram’s ‘The Sword Falls’, a novel about an elderly cockney clerk & the devastating
effect War has on him & his family. Bertram was the biographer of Paul Nash & the
special interest in the book lies in the rarity of the UK edition which reputedly
sported a jacket by Eric Ravilious but of which no record exists. My own copy looks
as if it only lost said jacket a short time ago. The title page below is of a rare
copy of an RAMC memoir of a Casualty Clearing Station in 1917 -
17th July
I’ve always been rather intrigued by Wilfrid Ewart, probably because of his bizarre
death, when, having survived the War, he was shot through the eye by a stray bullet
during the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Mexico in 1922. Most of his books were
published posthumously but he did achieve major success with ‘Way of Revelation’
in 1921 -
Agnes Weston was known as the ‘Mother of the Navy’ for founding the Royal Sailor’s
Rest in Portsmouth. First published in 1909, this 1915 edition was updated to take
in the current war. And finally, Private Pinkerton, in its superb jacket was rescued
from a rain-
13th July
Having just bought the Air adventure story below, I thought I’d add a few books to
the children’s novel page which I’ve been holding onto for some time. My attention
was drawn, in George Simmers excellent Great War Fiction blog, to a series of nursery
stories by Chloe Preston called the Peek-
N.B. A word of caution to those wishing to investigate the Peek-
9th July
Today’s mixed bag includes one of those books which will probably never grace a collectors
shelves -
5th July
Having despaired of ever finding anything worthwhile on Ebay again, a real gem turns
up in the shape of Major Crum’s ‘With Riflemen, Scouts & Snipers’. Privately printed
in 1921 it tells of his time with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps & the setting up of
a sniping school. This fine memoir seems to have eluded the print-
A fine catalogue from Tom Donovan today found me only a hairsbreadth away from ordering Fryer’s ‘Reminiscences of a Grenadier’ being certain I didn’t have it. Fortunately I had a small doubt & indeed there it was on the shelf. If only I had a USB port in my head I could carry my catalogue around with me! It’s definitely a sign of having too many books.
30th June
Yesterday to the Tate to see the excellent ‘Vorticism’ exhibition. Rather sniffily
received by the critics -
24th June
Although I don’t usually bother with Unit Histories this one of the 1st Birmingham Battalion has such a superb jacket that it has to be included. It comes courtesy of Tom Donovan who’ll probably be including it in his next catalogue but its rarity, coming as it does from a small local publisher, may mean it’ll be rather expensive! David Pritchard has provided the US edition of Patrick Macgill’s fine memoir of the battle of Loos. Now if only someone had the UK editions of his other elusive titles, The Red Horizon & Fear, in their jackets, I’d be most pleased. + 2 variant jackets on one of Homer Randall’s ‘Army Boys’ series.
20th June
Probably the most outstanding of all anthologies of personal memoirs today in the shape of Bernard Newman’s ‘Anthology of Armageddon’. Coming from a minor publisher in 1935 it’s become remarkably scarce in its jacket being the only copy I’ve ever come across. Its late publication meant it caught almost all the major memoirs. From David Pritchard is another addition to the ‘On Active Service Series’ & most importantly a colour copy of Gristwood’s ‘The Somme’ which I used to see quite often when I didn’t want it & now never come across when I do!
16th June
I’ve been reading Henry Day’s memoir ‘Macedonian Memories’ and came across this in
the preface by Field Marshall Sir George Milne. It would doubtless be welcomed by
today’s Revisionist historians -
A couple today for the paperbacks page & a couple for the ‘On Active Service Series’ page.
11th June
After grumbling about the book fairs I find I did rather well in the end. The ABA
at Olympia gets more & more irrelevant -
5th June
The week of the London June Bookfairs arrives with the usual degree of hope invariably turned to disappointment after a few hours. As you enter Olympia you’re confronted by the glitzy stands of the Modern First dealers fronted by besuited businessmen standing guard over the vitrines of priceless artefacts like Bond Street jewellers. A few hours later, head splitting & eyes glazing, you near the end of the stalls at the Novotel & wonder, having failed to buy anything, whether its worth spending £5 on a bottle of lager at the bar before having a final desperate search or just giving up and trekking all the way back to Kensington Olympia station for the long wait for a train to anywhere. Who knows, by Saturday they may be a clutch of mega rarities displayed below!
31st May
Later the same day I’ve added some new books. Herbert Ward’s sketches of French soldiers,
Trevor Allen revisiting the battlefields in the Middle East, the US ed of Von Unruh’s
‘Way of Sacrifice’ and the long awaited F W Harvey (the jacket in rather a state
-
31st May
Before adding more books to this page I thought I’d add yet another new page. Looking around my collection I see numerous personal memoirs, many of outstanding quality, that have been waiting for many years to find their jackets but probably never will. It seems that personal memoirs, particularly those published soon after the War, are among the scarcest of all the books on this site. So rather than let them languish in obscurity for ever I’ve scanned their title pages & put them on the page below called ‘Jacketless Memoirs’. I may add some more later on.
28th May
An intermediate update today for just 1 book, John Cropton’s ‘The Road to Nowhere’.
Published by Hurst & Blackett in 1936 , this book seems to have fallen completely
off the radar. Illustrated by the author, the first half of the book deals with his
childhood in Kent but it’s the second part detailing the start of the War, his enlistment
& service at Gallipoli with the Royal Naval Division that merits our interest. Whilst
never involved in any heroic actions (only alluding briefly to his involvement at
Passchendaele) this is a very fine, sensitive & balanced memoir ending with the now
unemployed author despairing for his future. Why it has passed all the biographers
& bibliographers by escapes me -
25th May
Back from France to find that several books from the recent Bloomsbury sale have already found their way on to the market. A particularly interesting proof copy of Carstairs’ ‘Generation Missing’ from Tom Donovan with the author’s corrections. Most of today’s batch come from JRF who’s supplied me with some fine covers recently. The US edition of the Archibald owes its faded appearance to the fact that it’s printed on silver foil! A book of poems by F W Harvey is on its way to me from ebay which will allow me to bring this fine but neglected poet to the site.
17th May
Back to earth after the heady delights of the London auction scene. R. E. Vernede
could be thought of as a major minor poet, much anthologised without being instantly
recognisable. Frederic Villiers was a War artist who worked almost exclusively for
the Illustrated London News. His remarkable globe trotting career saw him present
at nearly every major battle from the 1870s to WW1 -
13th May
Yesterday’s sale at Bloomsbury Book Auctions saw some spectacular prices which I
can only put down to the unseasonably hot weather. Owen’s Poems for just over £1800
(with buyers premium) is not perhaps unusual although with the tissue guard to the
photo missing & a copy on ABE for half that price maybe it is. John McCrae’s ‘In
Flanders Fields’ at a tad over £1500 seems madness to me. Described as ‘very rare
in its jacket’ the copy on this site was bought for around £25 & as I recall was
one of a pair on offer at the time. As to Lushington’s ‘Gambardier’ & Junger’s ‘Storm
of Steel’ , whilst it’s nice to see them fetching over £1000 each, if that level
was achieved by other equally important books then the additions to this site would
rapidly dry up. Remarque’s ‘All Quiet’ once again failed to sell -
8th May
A little volume of poetry from the 17th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. Mostly
written in barracks for the battalion magazine ‘The Outpost’ it manages to achieve
a quality usually lacking in similar publications. The copy of Harding’s ‘Escape
Fever’ is the 2nd imp. as is the existing on-
Although the last veteran has now gone, we shouldn’t forget that there are still many alive who lived through the War and will have memories of relatives returning from the front and soldiers parading through the streets. I wonder if anyone has bothered to gather together their memories. Claude Choules was born in 1901, the same year in which the last veteran of the Alamo died & a year before the last Napoleonic veteran passed away. I see from Wikipaedia that there are still some 52 people alive who were born in the 19th Century!!
5th May
Today we mark the passing of Claude Choules, the last surviving combatant of the War. The following is taken from the BBC website as is the photo below :
Born in Pershore, Worcestershire, in March 1901, Mr Choules tried to enlist in the Army at the outbreak of WWI to join his elder brothers who were fighting, but was told he was too young.
He lied about his age to become a Royal Navy rating, joining the battleship HMS Revenge on which he saw action in the North Sea aged 17.
He witnessed the surrender of the German fleet in the Firth of Forth in November 1918, then the scuttling of the fleet at Scapa Flow.
Mr Choules remembered WWI as a "tough" life, marked by occasional moments of extreme danger.
2nd May
Back from holiday brings a very welcome catalogue courtesy of Bloomsbury Book Auctions of their sale for 12th May which contains a very substantial collection of WW1 books, many of which will be familiar from this site. It’s the first substantial sale of this type at a major Auction House that I can recall in a long time with lots of colour pictures of titles such as Junger’s ‘Storm of Steel’ & Lushington’s ‘Gambardier’. The Gurney below is taken from the catalogue in a rather shredded but rare jacket, but it at last brings the poet to the site. My recent purchase of the Blunden edition of Owen’s Poems prompts me to add the first collection of his poems in Edith Sitwell’s ‘Wheels 1919’ The cover is by William Roberts and I’m unable to ascertain wether or not this series ever came in jackets (I suspect only the last volume did).
21st April
The plain cream jacket below is not a mistake but the covering for one of the finest but most neglected of War memoirs. ‘The First Three Months’ by Capt. E. J. Needham tells of the 3rd. Batt., Northamptonshire Regiment during the early months of the War. Few writers have captured so well the dispiriting nature of the retreat from Mons culminating in the Battle of the Aisne (worth searching for but the only copy on ABE at the moment is very overpriced). The Farmer’s Boy is a privately printed souvenir of the 5th Service Batt., Dorsetshire Regiment. It contains a useful, short account of the Battalion’s War record. As far as I can ascertain there is no record of this publication anywhere!
17th April
Has anyone else noticed how the price of these books has been creeping up lately.
Personal memoirs with any degree of scarcity now seem to start at £100 whilst £2-
Although this site has never aspired to being a definitive guide to War literature,
I like to think that most of the major works are here. But I fear I still have a
long way to go. Just glancing at my shelves of jacketless books I can see several
classics as yet unrepresented here : -
13th April 2011
Today’s batch includes an unrecorded front line narrative by Reginald Larking ‘Active
Service 1918’ rendered, somewhat unusually, in dialogue. He served in the London
Rifle Brigade. The final volume of Pepys Junior’s ‘Great Warr Diary’ was advertised
on ABE as in a damaged dustjacket -
8th April
Suddenly I’m overwhelmed with new images. Pride of place must go to the UK first of Capt. Nobbs ‘Englishman Kamerad’ perhaps better known under its earlier US title ‘To the Right of the British Line’. He served with the London Rifle Brigade & was blinded on the Somme. I’ve spent all day reading it and it’s a truly remarkable record of stoical suffering. His description of the action at Leuze Wood is certainly vivid. A real rarity. The UK ed of ‘Cruise of the Raider Wolf’ is a very drab affair compared to its’ overseas editions. And the UK & US versions of Viereck’s take on Allied Propaganda.
4th April
This morning brings a really first-
I see that Bloomsbury Book Auctions are selling the entire stock of the late Nigel Williams, the modern firsts dealer, in 2 weeks time. His stock was always interesting if rather pricey and here it is, mostly in multiple lots with quite low estimates. It just goes to show the huge gap between Auction values and Dealers expectations!
31st March
Returning from France finds me rather bereft of new titles so I’m forced into using images from my reserve stock about which I have little information. A guide to Submarine Warfare, the experiences of Officers of the Trench Artillery, A French Chaplain at War & a novel concerning a scientists’ attempts to bring the War to an early end.
23rd March
Today's batch includes a lovely early jacket on the first volume of Michael MacDonagh’s account of the Irish Regiments in the War and a previously unrecorded novel of an Airman struggling to cope after the Armistice. The striking deco jacket is by B. Wallace.
18th March
Shortage of time limits me to only 3 new inclusions today. I don’t normally collect Unit Histories (the Inniskilling Fusiliers is from JRF) but I so liked the jacket on this history of the 2/20th London Battalion by Captain Elliot that I couldn’t resist. Described by Cyril Falls as ‘faithful and interesting but not aspiring to literary distinction’ it’s like most similar accounts, packed with information but devoid of emotion. The jacket & internal illustrations are by one Sidney A. Court.
14th March
Yesterday to the London Bookfairs and what a dismal experience it was. The one at
the Royal National was as good as usual although often difficult to find a dealer
at his stall to take one’s money! But whatever’s happened to the PBFA fair? Since
its move from the Russell to the Holiday Inn it seems to have lost most of its dealers
-
10th March
Just as I’d given up on it the postman arrived with the Grabenhorst -
7th March
It’s been 25 years since I last saw a copy but I’ve finally tracked down the UK edition
of Patrick Miller’s ‘The Natural Man’ A prize winning novel set almost entirely in
the front-
4th March
I was going to show the rare jacket for Georg Grabenhorst’s ‘Zero Hour’ but Royal
Mail have contrived to lose it in the 30 mile journey from the bookseller to my house,
so if it turns up on Ebay it’s mine! Strange how things arrive in pairs (like buses)
-
2nd March
Sad to note the passing, shortly after his 110th birthday, of Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of the War. Born a few months before the assassination of President McKinley, Frank acted as a general driver in Winchester before being shipped to France where he drove wounded soldiers to hospital. During the Second War he was captured whilst on business in Manilla & served three and a half years as a civilian internee in various Japanese prison camps, finally emerging weighing less than 7 stone! He was awarded the Legion d’honneur in 1999 by Jacques Chirac.
28th February
My sympathies go out to any readers in New Zealand after the terrible earthquake. The tragic loss of life will have caused much sadness. One of my main contributors, Andrew Harrison, lives in Christchurch but has fortunately been spared from too much damage. Seeing the ruined church I’m reminded of the Cloth Hall in Ypres during the War & the thought that what took months of German shelling could be achieved by nature in minutes.
24th February
Back from France. I noticed that whilst viewing this site on different computers, the fonts displayed vary, possibly with the screen size or resolution. The title of the site is in Invite Engraved SF (a rather 30s style font), but seems to default to Ariel on other screens (including Ipads). So if it all looks rather bland I can assure you it wasn’t meant to look that way. Amongst today’s batch is a superb memoir of the work of the 51st Highland Division Field Ambulance by Col. Rorie, DSO.(a lucky find on Ebay!) There is a modern reprint from Naval & Military press which uses the image from this jacket.
14th February
4 rather striking jackets today amongst them a superb jacket for Lesley Smith’s nursing memoir ‘Four Years out of Life’. Unfortunately this particular contributor rarely leaves me any information on his books origins so it’s often a matter of guesswork. The Library of Congress doesn’t list an American issue whereas the BL lists 2 issues in the same year so I assume this is the other one but which takes precedence I don’t know. So PLEASE, publisher & date if you could!
10th February
Further additions to the new Official History page courtesy of John Marrin including
a photograph of the entire series. Also a rare early jacket on Klaxon’s (J G Bower)
‘HMS’ to add to the 1930’s reprint already on-
7th February 2011
Notable in today’s batch are the letters of Mabel Dearmer from a field hospital in Serbia. She was a children’s book author & illustrator & mother of the last of the War poets, Geoffrey Dearmer (Poems. Heinemann 1918). She served as a nurse with an ambulance unit for 4 months before succumbing to Enteric Fever. Her eldest son, Christopher, was killed only a month later at Gallipoli. Geoffrey died in 1996 aged 103. There are also a few additions to the German Editions page.
4th February
Amongst today's offerings is a particularly rare collection of stories of the Mesopotamian Campaign. Written by the biographer of Shaw & Conan Doyle ,Hesketh Pearson served with the ASC in the Middle East. Although presented here as short stories he admitted in his autobiography that they were entirely true in every detail. A fuller commentary on the book can be found in George Simmers’ always excellent ‘Great War Fiction’ blog. Click here to see one of his 2 articles on Pearson. The War Wounds collection although published at the beginning of the 2nd War is almost entirely drawn from experiences of the 1st.
1st February
A mixed batch including a courageous Russian carrier pigeon, an American evacuation hospital and the disrupted lives of a family living by Lake Geneva during the War.
27th January
A quick reload to shift some of the backlog including the autobiography of General Maude’s successor in Mesopotamia & the memoirs of an Austrian escaper.
26th January
Masses of new books to put on site but for today I’ve finally put up a ‘Collecting the Official History’ page. There’s a link below or you can click here to go to it. Please let me know of any mistakes or additional information.
22nd January
One of those compilation albums that were so popular during the War -
17th January
Today brings 2 books by writers who were rather favourably compared to more famous
contemporaries -
12th January
A group of War novels today from Fons and 1 from me of a French woman & her adopted
child in occupied northern France. I was watching Polanski’s ‘The Ninth Gate’ the
other day. It’s the perfect film for the bibliophile -
9th January
The Official History page is not yet ready as I’m waiting for yet more examples to
arrive -
5th January 2011
A batch of images from a new contributor, Geoffrey Miller, will soon be appearing.
The arrival of yet another Official History volume prompts me into creating a new
page on the series which should be a definitive listing with a guide to their relative
availability. Looking at the site again on an I-
29th December
Spent the Christmas period reading Juliet Nicholson’s ‘The Great Silence’ which deals with the period immediately following the War. A good read full of amusing anecdotes but largely concerned with the doings of the Aristocracy & heavily reliant on stories from her native Sussex.
23rd December
Probably the last posting of the year unless the endless diet of TV repeats forces
me back to the computer. Amongst the offerings is this scarce play from 1924 set
in an RFC mess & a front-
18th December
Snowed in again so not much mail getting through. Fortunately I have a reserve supply of images including this excellent volume on road building in Salonica that I picked up recently. Glanced into one of the Surgery volumes of the Official History and rather wish I hadn’t. The colour images of gangrenous wounds and head injuries remind you of just how terrible it could be in the trenches under fire.
15th December
As it’s time to spread some Christmas cheer I thought this batch of Animals in War volumes supplied by Fons Oltheten might be appropriate. The first batch of the Official Histories has finally made its way to me from the frozen north. When you see the sheer wealth of detail contained in these books you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the effort involved. No wonder it took some 28 years to complete!
10th December
The snow is finally melting so hopefully some books are on their way to me from the
frozen north. I think my pursuit of the Official History series is getting out of
hand -
5th December
The peculiar squiggle defacing the home page is a facebook tag put on at my wife's
suggestion -
29th November
Just 1 new book today but for me it encapsulates the whole raison d’etre of the site. Published in 1917, its author hiding behind the name of the Greek god of medicine, it’s a series of vignettes of the life of a surgeon at sea during the first years of the War. It typifies the type of book that would have been lapped up both by those at home & by returning sailors. It’s authors’ true identity has been long forgotten as has the book itself, but its superb jacket by G. F. Williams raises it above the mass of similar works. A rare survivor which now takes its humble place amongst its more lofty fellows.
26th November 2010
I see that at last ABE have taken note of collectors concerns and inserted a ‘Not
print-
22nd November
On the day Book & Magazine Collector publish my letter on dust jackets they go out
of business! It may not have occupied the intellectual uplands of say The Private
Library but it always carried some useful bibliographies & had improved greatly in
recent years. After the demise of Rare Book Review not so long ago it was the only
antiquarian book magazine available at the local newsagents. In their final editorial
they say this hobby of ours is in decline. Judging by the number of second-
I must get up earlier in the mornings as by the time I read the new Turner Donovan catalogue the only copy seen in a long while of that rare tunneling memoir, One Mole Rampant, had gone. I suspect that John Marrin’s copy of Broger’s ‘Pillbox 17’ at £750 may not have flown the nest quite so quickly! Whilst it’s nice to see ones books rising in value if this level was sustained we might as well all give up!
13th November
Back from the excellent Military Bookfair at Deepcut barracks. It enabled me to complete
my Military Operations Mesopotamia set & more importantly produced a fine copy of
Gee & Shaw’s ‘A Record of D 245 Battery’ It was on-
9th November
An additional posting for my own benefit. Having managed to find a very reasonable
copy of Military Operations Togoland & the Cameroons on ABE I find I’ve reached a
milestone in my collecting of this elusive series -
7th November
I’ve been reading an excellent new book on animals in the Great War called ‘Tommy’s
Ark’ by Richard van Emden. It draws on material from some of the best War memoirs
amongst them T. S. Hope’s ‘Winding Road Unfolds’ This must be one of the few major
works to have so far evaded the print-
3rd November
2 excellent buys from E-
30th October
A mixed bag today including the 1st Canadian edition of Acland’s ‘All Else is Folly’
from a new contributor James Calhoun, Stephen Graham’s reminiscences of the battlefields
‘Challenge of the Dead’ and a rare view from inside a British prison camp from Paul
Cohen-
25th October
No you haven’t arrived at the wrong site; the 2 unlikely additions below can both
be considered War literature. The title story in the penultimate Holmes collection
has our hero unmasking a dastardly German spy in our midst, whilst Zane Grey leaves
behind the purple sage to tell the story of a returning soldier who finds his fellow
townsfolk have slipped into decadent ways -
21st October
An unusual edition of Rupert Brooke’s ‘1914 & other poems’ found by Andrew Harrison
in New Zealand. With its clear glassine-
15th October
Just how much is a book worth? The Ian Hamilton below was picked up on Ebay last
week for £4.99 with free postage. The single copy on ABE is nearly £300 with shipping
from Australia. His thoughts on the final phase of the Gallipoli campaign are interesting
but they’ve been reiterated many times since -
11th October
A new batch from Fons to filter in over the next few weeks and a few from me including
the rare revised edition of the Naval Operations set which has even retained its
jacket round the map volume! I’ve had some thoughts on the scarcity of dust jackets
prompted by an article on 19th century jackets in Book & Magazine Collector for this
month. I rather suspect that most books may never have had them! They’ll be publishing
my letter in the next issue. An excellent catalogue from Turner Donovan today but
I’ve had to resist as I’ve spent all available cash on my other book passion -
1st October
So the Great War will finally come to an end on Sunday as the Germans cough-
15th September
My thanks again to Andrew Harrison for providing 3 of today’s new additions. Alongside these & hiding behind one of the dullest jackets imaginable are the letters of Rothesay Stuart Wortley, an RFC pilot with No. 22 (Bristol Fighter) Squadron. This collection of his letters & diaries gives a really vivid picture of a pilots life in the War & is quite easy to find sans jacket. It even boasts a short memoir jointly written by Duff Cooper & John Buchan.
10th September
Only pictorial cloth bindings today,2 of them from New Zealand sent in by Andrew
Harrison. The Hugo Morgan is one of that elusive series from Hodder & Stoughton called
‘The Soldier Books’. According to the BL catalogue there were 9 books in the series
all published in 1916, an early set of first-
4th September
Rather a dull batch today I’m afraid! The Arthur Innes Adam is a series of letters
from the front by a Captain in the Cambridgeshires. If you search for this on ABE
you’ll turn up 77 copies of which only 1 is a real book, the rest being Print on
Demand. ABE’s claim to have 140 million books on line seems rather misleading in
the light of this -
29th August
All the books that have come my way lately were already on-
25th August
The loss of decent second-
19th August 2010
Back from a long break to find the Bairnsfather biography waiting for me. A rare find on Ebay. A nicely illustrated volume from early in his career. The ‘Aces & Kings’ is from the recent Ebay batch that I missed although the price of this one was higher that a copy currently available from ABE! There have been further additions to the Great War Adventures Magazine page & to the German editions page. I’ve also bought the copy of Williamson’s ‘Happy Days in France & Flanders’ that was on the site already so have put a better picture up on p. 30.
The splendid & exceedingly rare jacket from the John Rhode comes from Mark Sutcliffe Books but was long gone by the time I saw it.
3rd August
I read in the press that Tom Stoppard has scripted a 5-
27th July
The Bert Thomas cartoon ‘Arf a Mo, Kaiser’ on the jacket of the Frederick Treves
anthology ‘Made in the Trenches’ must be the most enduring image of the plucky British
Tommy at War. Worth seeking out, this rare survivor actually contains some excellent
writing and reasonably amusing jokes. The Adrienne Thomas gives a fine description
of a German Field Hospital at Metz -
21st July
Several books from Andrew Harrison in NZ. I’m expecting a few but they’re probably
bouncing around in mid-
18th July
For the first time I’ve found that 3 of the books I’ve just bought for the site were
on already -
15th July
There seem to be numerous sites on the net that give a value to one’s website, seemingly based on its commercial potential. This sites value seems to be between £43 & £1300 which compared to Google’s $6.2 Billion doesn’t bode to well for my skills as a budding media mogul. Perhaps I need to apply for a Government grant to fund the further purchase of books in the National interest. Only the Renn follow up below comes from me. It’s definitely a 1st but the cloth is blue with black titles whereas other copies have red on oatmeal.
10th July
Dropped in at Sandham Memorial Chapel today to take my yearly look at Stanley Spencer’s
War murals. Each time I see them I find new things to look at -
5th July
A new page at last featuring German editions of classic English War literature. Only 5 so far courtesy of Stefan Langheinrich but there should be plenty more to come. Let me know if you have any suitable images. Just because they turfed us out of the World Cup is no reason for me to hold a grudge. See link below my Top 20 list.
1st July
One of those books that I’ve always said I’d give my eyeteeth for turned up last
week in John Marrin’s latest catalogue -
I shall shortly be inserting a new page for German editions of English/US War books courtesy of Stefan Langheinrich. Watch this space!
22nd June
Just back from a few days in Copenhagen. Not somewhere you’d normally go for second-
13th June
Alec Waughs’ novel showing the after effects of the War on those who survived has
a striking cover by Lynn Ward. The UK edition from Cassell is most elusive. Vyvyan
Richards biography of his friend T. E. Lawrence is an enlightening read and comes
from a military bookshop I discovered recently in Falmouth -
9th June
I don’t know why I thought the ‘Gatsby’ was expensive -
The formidable lady below is Maria Botchkareva, the Russian soldier who formed the charmingly titled ‘Women’s Battalion of Death’ in an attempt to shame the men’s battalions into fighting the Germans and not joining the Bolsheviks. She seems to have had the ear of Karensky and to have told Lenin & Trotsky where to get off! The prose reads rather like a Stalinist propaganda novel with lots of ‘How could I a humble peasant woman speak to such great men’ but she does seem to have been exceedingly brave. She fell foul of the new regime by supporting the Whites and was executed in 1920.
7th June
A remarkable survivor bought at the ABA fair at Olympia on Saturday. Vernon Bartlett’s ‘Mud & Khaki’ from 1917 is virtually mint, not a nick or a mark on the jacket or book. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 93 year old book in such fine condition.
Almost the first think I saw on entering the fair (apart from a Great Gatsby at £120,000!
Are they mad! You could buy mine & all my contributors entire collections for that)
was a copy of Lampedusa’s ‘The Leopard’,1st, jacketed, unsigned, for £550. Surely
I’ve got that in my garage I thought & yes it was there, in even better condition.
Oh goodie, I thought, I can sell that & make a few bob. Better check on ABE first.
Instant deflation -
5th June
My heart sinks when I find a much sought after work was published by Gollancz. I’m often told by designer friends that these are fine examples of restrained design. No they’re not, they’re terminally boring, denying that basic human love of decoration. The only worse examples I can think of are those interminable series of French paperbacks with their cream covers and red fonts much loved by interior designers. The word is everything, they seem to say, we do not have time for your decorative fripperies! It’s not surprising that this outstanding novel by Pamela Hinkson was rather neglected on first publication, having to wait another 14 years to sell over 100,000 copies when reprinted by Penguin. Hinkson published 2 other War novels under her pseudonym ‘Peter Deane’.
30th May
The only fruit of the June bookfairs so far is this delightful jacket for Donald
Mackenzie’s ‘From all the Fronts’, not seen before but there are 2 other copies on
ABE. A further example of mis-
26th May
Friends have been telling me for ages what a wonderful book Hans Fallada’s (Rudolf
Ditzen) book ‘Alone in Berlin’ is. It’s become a bestseller for the author who died
in 1947. Remembering the name from the Barry Maurer collection I’ve managed to find
this copy of his story of a Berlin family during the first part of the 20th century.
His descriptions of the Western Front were not based on personal experience as he
was sectioned during the War for killing a friend in a failed suicide attempt. His
colourful life also involved fraud, theft and attempting to murder his wife. He also
seems to have fallen out with Goebbels who insisted on a re-
20th May 2010
An occasional visit to the Military Parade Bookshop in Marlborough today yielded a few choice items including a further addition to my ever expanding Official History set. Always worth a detour (allow for lengthy lunchtime closure !) he has a copy of ‘Squad’ at a lot less than the ABE prices. Several additions to the Childrens’s annuals & Pictorial bindings pages from Andrew Harrison who also supplied the jacket for the Paravane Adventure in Minesweeping below.
17th May
The UK edition of James Wharton’s ‘Squad’ can be seen below. I’d expected it to differ
from the US edition but this is one of those rare cases where the same design, by
Wendell Galloway, was used for both. There is a slight difference in the size of
the image which can be seen on p.30. If anyone is desperate for a copy there are
2 on ABE at a little over £200 each! That’s some 10x what I paid for mine. It’s worth
remembering that many dealers add 15 -
14th May
I could have sworn I had a copy of Animal War Heroes & that it was on the site but
it seems not -
11th May
The RFC memoir by Philip Arnall shown below should serve as warning to booksellers to check their text before uploading it. Exceedingly scarce in its charming jacket there are 4 copies on ABE without said jacket. However, suspecting that his name might be misspelt phonetically, I searched for Arnell and turned up this sole copy at a very reasonable price. Now what’s the opposite of Caveat Emptor?
4th May
I’m glad to see this 1st of Carroll Carstairs memoir of his time with the 3rd Grenadiers
which William Erti has sent in. 30 years ago I saw this book quite often and so passed
it by but now it’s become particularly scarce. Also several new images from Fons
Oltheten in Holland. My copy of Hell in the Heavens has arrived -
1st May
The only books to come my way lately are already on the site from other contributors
-
24th April
I still continue to acquire the Official History -
21st April
Only this delightful period jacket by John Farleigh on Osbert Sitwell’s ‘Those were the Days’ to offer today. A novel set in London before, during & after the War it seems to have passed from view these days with little mention of it to be found on the web. The cast make constant reference to the conflict so I may give it a go in the coming weeks.
17th April
Bruce Bairnsfather is only remembered these days as the Artist behind the ‘Old Bill’
cartoons, but in 1916 he published the attached volume of War memoirs ‘Bullets &
Billets’. I read it over 20 years ago but still recall it as a most engaging, if
somewhat sanitised, memoir of the trenches. Fortunately my small stock of 1:10,000
trench maps provided me with the appropriate one to accompany my reading of the book
and his descriptions are such that it’s quite easy to follow exactly his day-
14th April
Back from France. A few jacketed books should be on their way but only vol.5 of the
War in the Air and GHQ by GSO awaited me. The later has some kind things to say about
Lt. Gen. Travers-
31st March
6 new books as there may be a brief hiatus in updates. It’s seems to be getting harder
to find decent ones lately. Ebay seems to be getting more and more cluttered-
25th March
New today, a children’s book and a couple from Babylon Revisited (always lots of
War novels on their site). I just bought a copy of 1 of the deluxe Raemaeker volumes,
published by the Fine Art Society, on Ebay . No doubt his drawings seemed very hard-
22nd March
Back from France & ready to tackle another page. A couple of 1930’s seafaring reprints
from ‘Klaxon’ (John Graham Bower). Diligent searching has only yielded me a copy
of Falkenhayn’s ‘General Headquarter’s’, a plain but scarce early jacket which I’ll
put on when it arrives. Ebay has yielded little of late -
16th March
As you can see our little band of veterans has shrunk to just 3 with the recent passing of John Henry Babcock, the last surviving Canadian soldier of the Great War. A sad loss.
10th March
Today I’m beginning my attempt to make the site more HTML compatible by giving each image a searchable title/author. This should mean that should anyone search for a given title in Google images or suchlike then the appropriate picture should appear for that book. This could take several months as I’ve only done p.23 so far and that’s taken an hour! I’ll do each page when a new image goes on it. I’ve tried to do the same for the index below but everything disappeared so will leave that for the moment.
7th March
Have you noticed how rare books seem to be like London buses & come along in pairs?
Having sought Von Unruh’s ‘Way of Sacrifice’ for years 2 copies turn up within weeks
of each other. Unfortunately I bought the first one which cost twice as much as the
later appearance. Also having bought Herbert’s ‘Mons, Anzac & Kut’ with the jacket
glued to the front another copy appears on ABE 2 days ago (sold very quickly). Again
I hadn’t seen it before. The most startling instance occurred a few years ago -
4th March
The A P Herbert below is unfortunately only the US 1st which is scarce but not nearly as rare as the UK ed. which I’ve never seen. (Maggs has a jacketless copy for £185 at the moment). It came from Royal Books in Baltimore who kindly included their latest catalogue. In it are 2 books by one Jim Thompson?? which can be yours for a mere $80,000! That’s just 1000 times more than they charged me for the Herbert. I think I’ll stick with the War! I’ve also just acquired the latest Kipling bibliography by David Richards. I’ve long been a Kipling collector and this has extensive listings of his Great War output. Unfortunately half of the book is on CD, including all the pictures. Presumably this was to save on costs but as the book is £125 they haven’t succeeded. Some of the illustrations show the most appalling copies, even my modest holdings could have improved on them.
27th February
A batch of European works that feature in Hager & Taylor’s 20 most significant novels
of the Great War in their book ‘The Novels of World War 1 : An annotated bibliography’.
I’ve appended their list to my Top 20 memoirs page. All this comes from my new high
spec pc with Windows 7 which I was told wouldn’t run the old software but which so
far it’s doing very well -
24th February
The US edition of the D. H. Lawrence novel ‘Kangaroo’ was supposed to go with the UK 1st which I’d bought on Ebay. Unfortunately neither the book nor a refund of my money ever arrived & the seller has gone strangely quite. Still that’s the first book ever to have gone awol in some 10 years of buying over the net so I can’t complain. Fabulous image on the Ackerman supplied by Dave Golemon. I’ve also relocated the image of Von Unruh’s ‘Way of Sacrifice’ to it’s correct place on p.29 and with a better image. A lucky find on ABE!
21st February
Firstly a welcome to Dave Golemon from Texas who’s sent in some splendid jacket images which will go up over the next week or so.
I’ve only just found out that one of my favourite bookshops closed over Christmas
-
I was about to hit the ‘add to basket’ button when I saw the “Trooper Bluegum” below
on ABE only to notice just in time that this is all that is left of the jacket pasted
inside the book -
18th February
Back from snow-
7th February
The Ebay book finally sold for 4x the price of a similar copy on ABE!!!! Below I
append a picture of THIS editors desk -
3rd February
The only new book from me is the Blunden Anthology below which is surprisingly scarce
in its jacket given that 10,000 copies were printed & the jacket is as thick as cardboard.
I’m following a book on Ebay which has already been bid up to over twice the price
that a couple of similar copies on ABE are selling for?? Most odd. And there are
now 4 volumes of the Official History winging their way to me from around the globe.
If you think John Marrin’s offerings are rather meagre these days, look back to his
catalogue 36 which I just chanced upon again -
31st January
As a change from adding new books I’ve attached the picture below. It’s supposedly
a corner of the editorial office of Peter Scott at the end of his term as editor
of that excellent journal of the Western Front Association, ‘Stand To’, taken towards
the end of 1986. I was so envious of the treasures displayed that it started me on
converting my existing, largely jacketless holdings, into what you see on this site.
It’s clearly a very posed shot drawing largely on the holdings of Peter’s employer,
Bertram Rota, showing several books that would later end up in their seminal Catalogue
245. I’ve since managed to find jackets for 4 of them -
28th January
The Mesopotamia vol. arrived 2 days ago -
22nd January
Most of my new arrivals are duplicates of books already on-
14th January
Melting at last & the postman’s been -
12th January
Another batch as the snow doesn’t seem to be abating and the postman has not been seen in a week. I think Seaford post office must be full of Great War books for me at the moment.
5th January 2010
Masses of new books to add so it’s just as well we’re all snowed in for the foreseeable
future. I see the bookseller Peter Harrington is single-
27th & 29th December
Bloated with too much turkey and Agatha Christie repeats it’s time to add a few more
gems from the Vergette-
23rd December
A splendid Christmas present in the form of a whole batch of new images from the
Vergette-
17th December
Having just finished ‘The Last Veteran’ I was made aware of some startling facts which connect us more closely with distant wars than I’d previously realised. I was 7 years old when the last veteran of the American Civil War died, & only missed by 6 years overlapping with the last survivor of Balaclava. My aunty Mabel, mentioned on the front page, was born in the same year that the last survivors of Waterloo & Trafalgar died! And the last Boer War vet? Well he was around until 1993! Suddenly the Great War seems so much closer.
16th December
Still reading Peter Parker’s excellent book ‘The Last Veteran’ it has reminded me of Dorothy Sayers novel ‘The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club’. More than almost any other Golden Age detective novel, the War floods nearly every page. The 2 minutes silence on Armistice day is used to move the body of the murder victim! Sayers herself was well aware of the effects of the War, her husband suffering from delayed trauma as a result of his time at the front. I don’t intend to put many such novels on site otherwise we’d be full of Agatha Christie (Poirot a Belgian War refugee, Hastings invalided back from the Somme) but this I think deserves its place.
The site seems to have been inducted into the Collectors Weekly Hall of Fame (see badge above) a useful guide to collectors on the web.
13th December
The later, Hutchinson, edition of Aubrey Herbert’s memoir comes from the Broad Street Book Centre in Hereford. It’s a scarce book in any condition but the jacket lacks the spine & is glued to the boards. A fine image though.
9th December
Little to add lately apart from the superb jacket shown below on Margaret Skelton’s
scarce anti-
1st December 2009
Having found myself a copy of Matthew’s ‘Cornwall Territorials’ it made me think
about the survival of some books. This was an expensive volume, 25/-
25th November
I’m in the throws of what may be Swine Flu but is probably just a common cold so
only a paltry offering of new things. Thanks to Tom Donovan for giving me the superb
image from ‘Woman Under Fire’ cut from the original jacket. And thanks also to Book
& Magazine Collector for mentioning me again in their Christmas issue. Still waiting
to hear from the V & A as to wether they’ll let me photograph the British Library
Dust Jacket archive covering the inter-
19th November
A superb series of letters from a flyer in the Royal Naval Air Service. Some of the
best descriptions of flying I’ve come across particularly for a volume published
during the war. I’m reading Peter Parker’s ‘The Last Veteran’ at the moment. An excellent
book and with a fine put-
18th November
To the new PBFA Military book fair at the notorious Deep Cut Barracks on Sunday.
An excellent if remote venue where the highlight was a complete set of the Official
History -
13th November 2009
Reading a short story in the Sapper collection below (see Sapper page) I was surprised to read of a strangely modern occurrence. Our clubland hero has parked his car in St. James Sq. but has to leave his dinner engagement early to move it. Apparently parking is limited to 2 hrs so he has to drive it to Waterloo Place otherwise he risks a fine. And this was written in 1927!! I’ll probably read that he gets caught by a speed camera next!
10th November
There seemed to be an emptiness at the Cenotaph this Remembrance Sunday now that the Great War generation has passed away. It was after all built to commemorate that war. I’m extremely thankful that I was there on the 11th November last year when Henry, Harry & Bill made their last appearance. I may go to the Abbey tomorrow for the final service.
Many thanks to George Simmers for digging this rare Arnold Bennett jacket out of the Bodlean Library.
7th November
With the approach of Armistice Day, ABE have produced, with a little help from me, a short guide to the books soldiers were reading in the trenches. See here.
A trip to the Chelsea Book Fair yesterday didn’t yield much, but I noted a copy of
Griffith’s ‘Up To Mametz’ inscribed to W.V. Tilsley on John Marrin’s stand -
23rd October 2009
A trip to Canterbury on Wednesday yielded a few books. Long gone are the days when
a town’s proximity to a University guaranteed a plentiful supply of secondhand bookshops.
Canterbury now has only 2 of note, the Chaucer & the Canterbury, but both are excellent
and well-
18th October
Sometimes I think there are only about a dozen of us collecting these books. Tom
Donovan has had a copy of Lucy’s ‘Devil in the Drum’ for sale for £75 for several
months now. Often described as the finest memoir of this or any other war it’s also
extremely rare in its original edition -
15th October
A batch of children’s novels from that incredibly industrious novelist Percy Westerman
on the Children’s novels page -
12th October
Only a couple of vols. of the satirical Pepysian view of the War to add, vol. 1 being only a 2nd ed. I recall seeing the last vol. some years ago with a colourful jacket. Also Money’s time with the RFC. One of our contributors is at present with the troops in Afghanistan so our thoughts go out to him for his safe return.
5th October
A batch of new additions are on their way once I have the relevant publishing details, meanwhile a small batch from the internet to be going on with. Just read a nicely illustrated book on children’s war artists ‘When the Comics went to War’ by Adam Riches. Highly recommended.
25th September 2009
I’ve just returned from a most moving ceremony to open the restored Lunette Battery, a Victorian Gun emplacement below Newhaven Fort. For any of you who are down this way and don’t know the Fort I can highly recommend a visit. For a small local museum the quality of the displays is outstanding with particularly fine pieces on the Great War & the Home Front in WW2. Open March till the end of October.
23rd September
Nothing fresh from me at the moment, the 3 new books below were all gleaned from
ABE with apologies. I did pick up an interesting Rifleman’s guide to building trenches
from Ebay. At over 250 pages I was surprised to find that so much could be written
on the subject. With useful data on how much digging should be expected from each
soldier -
14th September 2009
If I read one more newspaper article saying that the last veteran of the War has
died I shall go mad. Claude Choules is STILL alive -
10th September 2009
3 new jackets for Sapper’s books -
7th September
Several new images from Fons Oltheten who continues to publish Dutch translations
of WW1 titles as can be seen on his website -
6th September 2009
Back from a long break in France. Several books here when I returned but most were
on the site already -
25th August 2009
A few new additions but nothing more for the next few days. Many books are on their
way to me from the far flung corners of the old Empire but the vagaries of the international
postal system mean books from Canada take at least 6 weeks by air -
21st August 2009
I’ve put in a new page for Erich Maria Remarque -
20th August 2009
A whole batch of jackets from a new contributor, Roger Joye. That still means that
over the last two and a half years I’ve only heard from some 30 or so fellow collectors.
There must surely be lots more of you out there with some interesting material. If
you’re still thinking that the pictures are used for some nefarious purpose please
be re-
18th August 2009
Came across this set of Lord Beaverbrook’s history of the Canadian Expeditionary
Force on Ebay. Not a very good picture unfortunately but seeing all 3 vols. together
is unusual, vol.3 being rather scarce. I shan’t be buying it however -
17th August 2009
As you can see my attempt to add a second counter has placed it over some existing text. Moving it has so far defeated me so I may be forced to remove it. Came across yet another jacket for the early UK issue of Remarque’s ‘All Quiet’. It’s supposed to be the same year as the 1st but I won’t receive it for several weeks so can’t check yet.
14th August 2009
A rather tatty copy of Tank Commander Mitchell’s ‘Tank Warfare’ came today. He was in charge of the first English tank to meet a German one in single combat. At first I thought the book was meant for a young audience but it’s just his plain style. Full of interesting tank lore. I’ve put a new counter on this page as I assume most regulars have this page bookmarked.
12th August 2009
3 more books from Tom Donovan’s collection. I was looking at his copy of ‘One Mole Rampant’, that rare tunneling memoir which must be one of the most sought after books amongst WW1 collectors. Issued in a private edition of only 300 copies I’m wondering if it ever had a jacket. Tom’s copy looks so bright I’m sure it must have done. Worth going to George Simmers Great War Fiction blog to see his rendition from the Trafalgar Square plinth of a new 1000 line poem.
10th August 2009
A milestone reached -
7th August 2009
A few more books from Tom Donovan’s Collection. If you’re interested in a definitive history of the Indian Cavalry Regiments he has several copies of a new work on the subject.
6th August 2009
A fascinating little pamphlet from Ebay this morning ‘Tricks for the Trenches’ published in 1915. They mostly involve matches & coins with a few card tricks. I’m trying to picture the average Tommy, knee deep in mud and dodging the whizzbangs trying to lay out a few dry matches on an upturned crate to do these tricks! On the day of Harry Patch’s funeral I wonder what he would have made of them.
26th July 2009
Broadcasting House on Radio 4 this morning brought in Jay Winter to speak about the passing of Harry Patch. Barely mentioning the last Tommy, Winter used his time to promote the revisionist agenda. He trotted out the usual line about most of the memoirs being written by Officers and so were not really representative of the actual mood of the troops. This has always seemed to me to be a fallacious argument. Admittedly they were better educated and so more able to express in print their true feelings, but their sensibilities would have been the same as their men. Given that their generally elevated financial positions would have to some extent buffered them from the effects of the depression of the late 20’s, one would have expected them to be less disillusioned than the common soldier! Perhaps if more Tommies had written their memoirs the revisionists would see things differently. Harry Patch was never in any doubt about the awfulness of War!
25th July 2009.
And now Harry Patch has gone. All three men who were at the Cenotaph last November
have passed away this year. Hopefully a National memorial service will swiftly be
arranged -
An excellent new book on dust jackets has recently been published -
I must once again express my thanks to Tom Donovan who has allowed me to photograph
some more of his excellent collection -
Bodley Head’s ‘On Active Service Series’ with ‘Soldiers’ Tales of the Great War’ from Heinemann, the ‘Soldier Books’ series from Hodder & ‘Books of the Great War’ from Collins.
of UK/US classic works
The Official History of the War
A Collectors Guide
Mostly privately printed works produced in memory of a fallen soldier