Arthur Ransome; Illustrated by Clifford Webb (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Clifford Webb (illustrator). 1st Edition. 1939 1st edition 1st impression. Signed by the author. Green cloth, gilt titles to spine, blind stamped title to front, map illustrated endpapers. 41 b/w illustrations by Clifford Webb. Condition: Very Good. Slight browning to edges of cloth. Dark mark to rear board. Signed Arthur Ransome to half title. Pages generally clean and bright with just the occasional smudge. Splitting to rear hinge at final blank. Size: 8x5.5 in / 20x14 cm. 380 pages. Weight: 690g. Signed by Author(s).

First edition. 453 pages + 1 of ads. Inscribed by the author to the verso of the half-title page: "For the Kelsalls from the Ransomes, with particular thanks for the Parrot's contribution to the book, to say nothing of Desmond's & Richard's, Nov. 2. 1931". The Kelsall family lived near the Ransomes and the two families were friends. The Kelsalls made several contributions to the plots of the Swallows and Amazons novels: a code system was developed between the two households, which was used in 'Winter Holiday'. The two Kelsall children, Dick and Desmond served as models for some of the drawings, and Christina Hardyment quotes them as saying: "we made the ship's papers for Swallowdale. We had a parrot, a grey and red one. We put two pieces of paper round a broomhandle, and covered one of them with a mixture of soot and paraffin. Then we got the parrot to grip first the black one and then the white one with its claws" (Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint's Trunk, 1984). Desmond Kelsall also notes that after reading Swallows and Amazons Ransome asked him what he thought, to which he responded: that he: "thought John was too good. He ought to get over-confident and do something really stupid like wrecking Swallow.". The book is firmly bound in the publisher's greenish blue cloth, lettered in gilt, it is in fairly poor shape externally, the hinges are tender and the cloth is split with the mull showing beneath, otherwise the boards are slightly marked and faded, more so to the spine, with a few other knocks and tears to the cloth. The text block is slightly foxed and age toned, with occasional marks throughout, and there has been a tea spillage across pages 416 and 417. The book is preserved in a green cloth covered drop-back box, lettered in gilt to the edge, the box is lightly rubbed and marked. A remarkable association copy, inscribed on the day which Ransome noted in his diary as publication day, though according to the BL their copy arrived on October 24th, so presumably either November 2nd was the day on which Ransome received his complimentary copies, or the BL received an advance copy in the week prior to publication.