P. G. WODEHOUSE FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Herbert Jenkins, 1923. First edition : the first issue, with just ten titles listed on the verso of the half-title. Eighteen short stories including “Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum”, “No Wedding Bells for Bingo”, “Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind” and “The Great Sermon Handicap”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (256)pp. Original sage green pictorial cloth, blocked and lettered in black; some light rubbing and wear at tips; edges a little spotted, but a good copy. Pictorial bookplate of the well-known Woodrow Wyatt (1918-1997), journalist and parliamentarian.

SOLD

London : Herbert Jenkins, (1937). First edition : in the primary binding of scarlet cloth. A splendid collection of nine short stories, with Lord Emsworth, Blandings Castle, Mr Mulliner, the Oldest Member, the Drones Club, Ukridge, etc.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 312,[viii]pp. Original cloth, blocked and lettered in black; a few faint marks and a couple of hairline splits to cloth; mild tanning of endpapers; some spotting of edges and closing advertisement leaves, but a good and still attractive copy.

£75

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London : Herbert Jenkins, (1953). First edition. The sixth Jeeves novel – damp ancestral home, impoverished earl, possible American buyer, suspicious fiancée – but fortunately Jeeves is on hand. Published the following year in the USA in an extensively revised version as “The Return of Jeeves”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (222),[ii]pp. Original red boards, blocked and lettered in black; boards a little marked, with a faint pencilled message to the rear cover, saying ominously, “Don’t fence me in”, but the text clean and sound and otherwise a very good copy in the Sax dust-jacket – the jacket price-clipped by the publisher with a revised price over-stamp, but just lightly sunned, with minimal wear, and overall still very good. With the small ownership stamp of John J. Looijestijn.

SOLD

London : Herbert Jenkins, (1958). First edition : the variant in the surely earlier (McIlvaine notwithstanding) blue boards, lettered in gilt. Uncle Fred knocks Sir Raymond Bastables hat off with a brazil nut fired by catapult from the Drones Club. The third Uncle Fred novel – meddling, blackmail, scandal, and a pseudonymous and much-disowned novel called “Cocktail Time” – with Pongo Twistleton, Beefy Bastable, publishers, agents, etc.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 222,[ii]pp. Original blue boards, lettered in gilt; a few very faint edge-spots, but overall a very good, clean and sound copy in the Hall dust-jacket – the jacket with some minimal rubbing and wear, but also very good.

SOLD

London : Herbert Jenkins, (1965). First British edition. The calm and serenity of Blandings Castle disturbed – “A pretty girl in distress, the mending of sundered hearts, the introduction of imposters into his brother’s demesne, all come alike to Gally. Admittedly one or two of his schemes go awry en route”. The ninth Blandings Castle book, first published in the USA as “The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood”.
Post 8vo (21cm). 224pp. Original red boards, lettered in gilt; a few slight marks and spots to edges; mild tanning to endpapers and outer leaves, but otherwise a very good copy in the dust-jacket by Payne – the jacket price-clipped, a touch sunned, with some faint tanning to flaps, and a few spots to rear panel, but also very good.

£100

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London : Barrie & Jenkins, (1970). First edition. A Gainsborough miniature goes missing – hanging in the balance are the future of Mellingham Hall; the peace of mind of Homer Pyle, who suspects his sister, Bernadette (Barney) Clayborne, of kleptomania; the happiness of a young heir and both his fiancées; the prospects of a gold-digging actress; the employment of a fake butler, and much else besides.
Post 8vo (21cm). (192)pp. Original blue boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good clean, fresh and sound copy in the Osbert Lancaster dust-jacket – the jacket also very good.

SOLD

Barrie & Jenkins, (1972). First edition. A sequel to “The Luck of the Bodkins” – Monty Bodkin; Gertrude Butterwick, his hockey-playing fiancée from West Dulwich; Sandy Miller, his vivacious secretary; Chimp Twist, Soapy Molloy and other favourites; the Drones Club and the Happy Prawn night-club. Later published in the USA as “The Plot That Thickened”.
Post 8vo (21cm). (192)pp. Original green boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; slight spotting of edges; mild tanning of endpapers, but a very good copy in the Osbert Lancaster dust-jacket – the jacket with some very minor wear, a few faint spots, and some slight darkening at the edges of the laminate (as usual), but still very good. Neat contemporary (December 1972) ownership inscription.

£75

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London : Barrie & Jenkins, (1972). First edition. A sequel to “The Luck of the Bodkins” – Monty Bodkin; Gertrude Butterwick, his hockey-playing fiancée from West Dulwich; Sandy Miller, his vivacious secretary; Chimp Twist, Soapy Molloy and other favourites; the Drones Club and the Happy Prawn night-club. Later published in the USA as “The Plot That Thickened”.
Post 8vo (21cm). (192)pp. Original green boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a little bruised at foot; a few faint spots, but a good copy in the Osbert Lancaster dust-jacket – the jacket also slightly bruised, with a small chip at foot.

£40

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London : Barrie & Jenkins, (1973). First edition. The sequel to “Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin”. Ivor Llewellyn, much married and currently divorced head of a Hollywood film studio, returns to London.
Post 8vo (21cm). (192)pp. Original green boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a couple of edge spots, but a very good copy in the Osbert Lancaster dust-jacket – the jacket slightly darkened at edges of the laminate (as usual), with a slight crease to the back panel, but also very good.

£75

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 45590 – or simply click on the button