About this Item
1918 1st edition. Unpaginated. Good/None. Hard green boards with some rubbing/chipping to edges/spine, splitting to front edge of spine - stuck down, minor scuffing/soiling, label mark to back. Contents generally clean and tight but for minor soiling, tanning to pages. B&W illustrations and decorations. The first edition reprinting, issued in 1918, of the initial 15 issues of the WWI trench magazine, most commonly known as the 'Wiper's Times'. It was written in a humorously ironic style and contained a mixture of poetry, in-jokes, spoof adverts, lampoons of the military situation, reflections on the war and life in the trenches and gallows humour, all submitted by British soldiers. The magazine was produced by soldiers fighting on the Ypres Salient. In 1916 the 12th Battalion of Sherwood Foresters came across an abandoned printing press which still worked. The magazine was first issued on 12th February 1916 in a run of 100 copies. A total of 22 issues were published until February 1918, with a further 2 late in 1918. The magazine changed its name a number of times from the 'Wipers Times' to the 'BEF (British Expeditionary Forces) Times', to the 'New Church Times', to the 'Kemmel Times', to the 'Somme Times'. The two later editions published after the war were called the 'Better Times'. (Kemmel refers to a Kemmel Hill a key point in the Somme area). The magazines had two editors, Captain Frederick Roberts MC, and Lieutenant John Pearson. Other important contributors included the British novelist Gilbert Frankau, and engraver E J Couzens. Many other individuals contributed but largely under pseudonyms. A fascinating insight into life in the trenches of WWI. Seller Inventory # 007464
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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Wipers Times - A Facsimile Reprint of ...
Publisher: Herbert Jenkins Ltd, London
Publication Date: 1918
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Couzens, E J
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Edition: 1st Edition
