Arthur Ransome &

JONKERS RARE BOOKS 1 JONKERS RARE BOOKS ARTHUR RANSOME

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2 3 JONKERS RARE BOOKS ARTHUR RANSOME The Swallows And Amazons Books

“This is a story of two families of children, with a couple of sail- The book was critically well received, with The Sunday Times ing boats, on a lake.” These words are written on the front flap of saying it was written by “a master story teller, sympathetically the first edition ofSwallows And Amazons, and scarcely seem the in touch with real children and their interests, has created char- stuff to enthrall readers over the decades. And yet, Ransome’s acters who are accepted as friends by children everywhere”. Its evocation of a wonderful summer of adventure, discovery and favourable critical reception encouraged Ransome to write the friendship is as fresh and compelling today as it ever was. further adventures of John, Susan, Titty and Roger Walker (The Swallows) and Nancy and Peggy Blackett (The Amazons) and It all began in 1928 when Ransome and his wife Evgenia met with , the third in the series, he finaly achieved the up with their friends, the Altounyan family, who were staying commercial success he had been looking for. at Coniston in the Lake District. The two families bought a couple of dinghies, named Swallow and Mavis (later renamed Over the following seventeen years he wrote twelve novels in Amazon), and Ransome elected to teach the five children to the series, in the process creating a “first class yarn for boys and sail. After the Altounyan’s departure at the end of the summer girls” which evoke memories of a carefree childhood set in long holidays, Ransome decided to write an adventure story loosely summer days devising camps and having sailing adventures. based on the exploits of the children and their time on the lake. In the spring of 1929 he presented a synopsis and 50 pages of These twelve volumes are presented here as they first appeared. Swallows and Amazons to his publishers, who were enthusias- All but one were assiduously acquired by a discerning Ransome tic about him continuing, and this he did. over the past decade, and now it is hoped that they might fill gaps in your collection as you look to complete your set.

1. 2. Swallows And Amazons RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur Cape, 1930. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with gilt titles Cape, 1931. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with gilt titles, in pictorial wraparound dustwrapper designed by Steven Spur- in pictorial Clifford Webb dustwrapper. Illustrated throughout rier. Pictorial endpapers in map design and map frontispiece by with woodcuts by Clifford Webb. A fine copy with a touch of Spurrier. A fine copy, with slight ghosting to the spine through fading to the edges in a fine dustwrapper, as clean and crisp the dustwrapper as usual, in a fine (price clipped) dustwrapper, as the day it was issued. An exceptional copy. Bookplate to the which shows a little toning to the spine and trivial wear at its verso of the front endpaper. [39359] £15,000 head, but is exceptionally bright and crisp. [39358] £18,500 The second book in the Swallows & Amazons series. Experience has The first book in the Swallows and Amazons series and extremely rare shown this book to be the scarcest of all the books in the series and its in this condition. dustwrapper particularly prone to defects of condition.

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in a near fine dustwrapper, which just shows light tanning to the spine, a couple of short closed tears to the edges, and minor abrasion to the lower panel, but nonetheless is an uncommonly bright and crisp example. [37420] £5,500 The third in the series of Swallows and Amazons. The recipient of the postcard was at this point a twelve year old stu- dent at Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton, and a keen sailor who later joined the committee of Penarth Yacht Club. He had evidently written to Ransome to share his enjoyment of the Swallows and Amazons books and his love of sailing, and had been wise enough to leave his correspon- dence at that.

WITH AN AUTOGRAPH POSTCARD 3b. 4. 3a. Peter Duck Peter Duck RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur Cape, 1932. First edition. Original green cloth with gilt lettering Cape, 1933. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with titles in RANSOME, Arthur in pictorial Clifford Webb dustwrapper. Pictorial endpapers gilt to spine and blind stamped to upper cover, in pictorial dust- Cape, 1932. First edition. Original green cloth with gilt lettering and many black and white drawings. A fine copy in a near fine wrapper. Pictorial endpapers, with a map of the North Polar Ex- in pictorial Clifford Webb dustwrapper. Laid in is an autograph dustwrapper, which just shows light tanning to the spine and a pedition. Illustrated throughout in black and white. A near fine postcard with a printed border of Ransome’s illustrations. It is little wear to the corners at the head of the spine, internally rein- book in a near fine dustwrapper. An excellent copy. postmarked from 1945 and is written by Ransome to Brian Field- forced. Slight dustiness to the back panel, but an exceptionally [39958] £3,500 Hyde, a keen young sailor and reader of Ransome’s, saying “I bright crisp copy. [39957] £5,000 am glad you liked them. And thank you for NOT asking ques- The very uncommon fourth title in the Swallows and Amazons series. The third in the series of Swallows and Amazons. tions. Best wishes for fair weather! Arthur Ransome”. Pictorial endpapers and many black and white drawings. A fine copy 6 7 JONKERS RARE BOOKS ARTHUR RANSOME

5. 6. 7. 8. Coot Club Pigeon Post We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur Cape, 1934. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth,lettered in gilt, Cape, 1936. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with gilt let- Cape, 1937. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with gilt titles Cape, 1939. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with gilt let- in the pictorial dustwrapper. Pictorial map endpapers and illus- tering on the upper cover and spine in pictorial dustwrapper. in pictorial dustwrapper. Pictorial endpapers and line drawings tering and pictorial dustwrapper. Signed by Arthur Ransome on trations in line throughout by Arthur Ransome. A near fine copy, Pictorial endpapers and many black and white drawings by the throughout. A very near fine copy, with a little spotting to the the half title. Pictorial endpapers and line drawings in the text in a very good dustwrapper, with a shallow chip to the head of author. A fine copy in a very good dustwrapper indeed with page edges in a fine dustwrapper with just trivial wear and a by Arthur Ransome. A very good copy indeed in a very good the spine, but a generally well preserved example of a rare title. slight fading to the spine and minor wear to the spine ends, the couple of spots of foxing to the rear panel. [39960] £1,250 dustwrapper, which is bright and clean with just light wear to [33754] £1,500 head of the spine needlessly reinforced. [39961] £850 the spine ends. [39962] SOLD The first recipient of the Carnegie Medal, which is now awarded annu- ally to the writer of an outstanding book for children.

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9. 10. 11. 12. Missee Lee The Picts And The Martyrs Great Northern? RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur Or Not Welcome at All RANSOME, Arthur Cape, 1940. First edition. Publisher’s green cloth with gilt letter- Cape, 1941. First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with gilt let- RANSOME, Arthur Cape, 1947. First edition. Green cloth with gilt lettering on the ing, in the pictorial dustwrapper. Pictorial map endpapers and tering, pictorial endpapers and numerous illustrations in black Cape, 1943. First edition. Publisher’s green cloth with gilt letter- spine and pictorial dustwrapper. Pictorial map endpapers and line illustrations throughout by Ransome. A fine copy in a very and white. Pictorial dustwrapper with design in orange and ing on the spine and blind stamping to upper cover, in picto- illustrations in line. A near fine book in a very good+ dustwrap- good dustwrapper indeed, which is bright and crisp with a cou- white. Pictorial map endpapers and line illustrations through- rial dustwrapper. Pictorial map endpapers and numerous line per, which is bright and clean. [39963] £250 ple of splashes to the rear panel. [39964] £350 out by Ransome. A near fine book (book plate tipped in a half drawings. A near fine copy with a slightly dusty top edge in a The final Swallows and Amazons story. title) in a near fine dustwrapper, spine bright and clean, just a very good dustwrapper, slightly tanned to the spine with a little tiny nick to upper corner. [32323] £450 wear to the spine ends and corners. [39965] £150

10 11 JONKERS RARE BOOKS ARTHUR RANSOME Other Works By & About Ransome

Ransome is in many ways a biographer’s dream. and subsequent Bolshevik Revolution, and third The success and enduring popularity of the Swal- to work as a spy for the Secret Intelligence Service, lows And Amazons books make him instantly rec- all the while courting Leon Trotsky’s personal sec- ognisable, and a touchstone for decency, “cotton retary Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina, who he would tents and grog and tea at four”, all anchored in the later marry. lore and landscape of the Lake District.

Such a life provides much fertile ground for the Against this, however, one can set - to take just book collector to cover beyond the Swallows And two examples - him leaving his Yorkshire col- Amazons stories; from the early literary works, to lege to embrace Bohemian London in pursuit of the pre-Swallows children’s stories and a maginif- a writing career; and leaving his family to move icent volume of Aladdin in verse; to a rich tapestry to Russia, first to study its folklore and produce of secondary material published about Ransome, Old Peter’s Russian Tales, second to act as a foreign as well as collections of his writings issued post- correspondent during the outbreak of war in 1914 humously by Amazon Publications.

RANSOME’S FIRST MAJOR WORK 13. Bohemia In London RANSOME, Arthur Dodd, Mead & Company, 1907. First US edition. Original brown pictorial cloth, lettered and decorated in green, beige and black. Top edge gilt others untrimmed. Sixteen black and white plates and further illustrations in the text by Fred Taylor. A very good copy indeed, the spine ends slightly rolled, and a little offsetting from the frontispiece. [36739] £300 Described by Cowen as “Ransome’s first major work”, ‘Bohemia In London’ was written when Ransome was just 22 years of age. It was published in the UK in September 1907, followed by this US edition two months later. PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector and scholar.

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“The length of the list of contents is an index to the number of acknowl- edgements I should like to make, to dead men whose genius (for friend- ship or for its expression) makes them live, and to living men whose works, without being shamed by te comparison, bear proximity to those of the dead.” Arthur Ransome, ‘To The Friendly Reader’ Among the authors represented are Shelley, Keats, Cicero, Bacon and Milton. Hammond B12, Cowen A Ransome Book-case PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector and scholar.

‘The World’s Storytellers’ Series Edited And With An Introductory Essay By Ransome. 14. 16. Stories By Theophile Gautier Stories By The Essayists RANSOME, Arthur [Ed]; GAUTIER, Theophile RANSOME, Arthur [Ed] T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1908. First edition thus. 12mo. Yellow-orange T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909. First edition thus. 12mo. Yellow-orange cloth, lettered black and with a circular vignette in black on the cloth, lettered black and with a circular vignette in black on the upper cover. Black and white portrait frontis of Gautier. A very upper cover. Black and white frontis. A very good copy, boards good copy, boards a little dusty. [33799] £30 a little dusty. [33800] £30 Includes Clarimonde, The Mummy’s Foot and King Candaules. Includes stories by Sir Thomas Overbury, John Earle, Richard Steele, Jo- seph Addison, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Lamb, Leigh 18. Hunt and Thomas De Quincey. 15. The Book Of Friendship Essays, poems, maxims & prose passages arranged by Arthur Ran- Stories By Ernst Theodor Wilhelm 17. some. Hoffmann Stories By Balzac RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur [Ed]; HOFFMANN, E.T.A. RANSOME, Arthur [Ed]; BALZAC, Honore De T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1909. First edition, Edition de Luxe. 8vo. Pub- T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1908. First edition thus. 12mo. Yellow-orange T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909. First edition thus. 12mo. Yellow-orange lisher’s full vellum binding with lettering and decoration in cloth, lettered black and with a circular vignette in black on the cloth, lettered black and with a circular vignette in black on the gilt. Top edge gilt and others untrimmed, yellow page marker upper cover. Black and white frontis portrait. A very good copy, upper cover. Black and white frontis portrait of Balzac. A very ribbon. Black and white frontis and tailpiece by Byam Shaw. A endpapers browned and boards dusty. [33803] £30 good copy, endpapers browned and boards dusty. [33802] £30 very good copy indeed, some foxing to the preliminary pages, Includes The Cremona Violin and Mademoiselle De Scudery. Includes The Unknown Masterpiece, The Atheist’s Mass, An Episode of but otherwise a bright and clean presentation. Some pages un- the Reign of Terror, Facino Cane and La Grande Breteche. opened, with a neat gift inscription to the front free endpaper. [36733] £250

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BEAUTIFUL EDITION DE LUXE 19. Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp In Rhyme RANSOME, Arthur; MACKENZIE, Thomas Nisbet, [1920]. First edition, edition de luxe in large format, printed on beautiful handmade paper. Number 213 of only 250 copies, numbered and signed by the artist. American issue with Brentano on the spine (though printed and bound in the UK with the rest of the limitation). Large quarto, 335mm x 265mm. Full white buckram with gilt embossed lettering and illustration. Top edge is gilt and others are untrimmed. From endpaper to endpaper each page is decorated with black and white drawings, in a striking art nouveau style. There are twelve colour plates mounted beneath captioned tissue guards, all are in perfect condition. The plates are vibrant and striking. A near fine copy, previous owner’s name to the front blank. [39243] £2,750 This book is a wonderful collaboration of Ransome, telling the story of Aladdin and His Lamp in rhyme, and beautiful decorations by Yorkshire artist, Thomas Mackenzie. In a letter in late 1919 Mackenzie laments problems with the production of this Edition-de-Luxe saying that the sheets were not dry enough to be bound up, because of “the continuous damp weather and the hand made paper it is printed on”. As a result the Deluxe edition did not go on sale until sometime in 1920 (the book was aimed at the Christmas gift market of 1919). The artist also comments “there are mistakes in it due to inexperience and immaturity which I hope you will close your eyes to.”

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20. 21. 22. 23. The Soldier And Death Racundra’s First Cruise Racundra’s First Cruise The Autobiography Of Arthur Ran- A Russian Folk Tale Told in English by Arthur Ransome RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur some RANSOME, Arthur Allen & Unwin, 1923. First edition. 8vo. Blue cloth with gilt titles. Huebsch, 1923. First American edition. Brown buckram with let- RANSOME, Arthur Printed for the Author at The Westminster Press, and Published by Illustrated with charts and photographs. A very good copy in- tering and upper cover illustration in green, in the scarce picto- Cape, 1976. Uncorrected proof copy. Publisher’s orange paper John G. Wilson, 1920. First edition. 12mo. Grey-brown paper deed. [14349] £250 rial dustwrapper. Four nautical charts of the cruise and thirty wrappers, in the proof dustwrapper. A fine copy in a near fine wrappers, lettered and ruled in black on the upper cover. A near Ransome’s account of building his first yacht, Racundra and his journey photographic reproductions. A very good copy, with a little fox- dustwrapper. [36910] £50 fine copy, edges a little browned and creased but overall a very between Latvia and Finland. “Racundra was launched, unfinished, in ing to the page edges, in a very good dustwrapper, with some July 1922, and departed on her maiden cruise on 20 August. Ransome PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector nice example of a fragile item. [33746] £65 tape repairs to verso. [36764] £500 kept a detailed logbook of the cruise. With encouragement from both his and scholar. Ransome referred to this as “my favourite of all Russian tales”. PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector old mentor, W.G. Collingwood, and his publisher, Stanley Unwin, Ran- and scholar. some turned his log book into a manuscript for Racundra’s First Cruise over the winter of 1922 – 23.” (Arthur Ransome Trust)

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26. about fifty... it also means that many would-be buyers will bedisap- 24. 25. pointed, and that this copy of yours in tantamount to gold dust.” PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector The Blue Treacle and scholar. The Life Of Arthur Ransome Coots In The North RANSOME, Arthur RANSOME, Arthur; BROGAN, Hugh And Other Stories. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Hugh Amazon Publications, 1993. First edition. From a limitation of 375 Brogan. Cape, 1984. Uncorrected proof copy. Original wrappers. A very paperback copies printed for subscribers. Original blue paper good copy. [38918] £40 RANSOME, Arthur; BROGAN, Hugh wrappers. A near fine copy. [36741] £95 27. Cape, 1988. First edition. Tan cloth lettered in gilt, in original Ransome wrote the story for his daughter Tabitha in 1914, making her printed dustwrapper. Loosely inserted is a New Year’s card the story’s heroine. In 1926 Molly Hamilton, a friend of Ransome, tried A Ransome Book-Case from John Cowen and his wife Gill. A fine copy in a very near to persuade Cape to publish it, to no avail. It was finally issued in 1993 [RANSOME, Arthur]; COWEN, John fine dustwrapper. [40131] £40 when Amazon Publications, an organisation devoted to printing works Amazon Publications, 2000. First edition. Green boards, in orig- by and about Ransome, chose it to be their first major publication. It was PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector inal pictorial dustwrapper. A fine copy in a fine dustwrapper. until this point the longest unpublished finished story by Ransome. and scholar. [40134] £35 Explaining the limitation to subscribers, Christina Hardyment writes John Cowen was a noted Ransome collector and scholar. “the plan is to only print as many copies as people subscribed for, plus 20 21 JONKERS RARE BOOKS ARTHUR RANSOME

28. 29. Ransome In China, 1927 Fair Cops And Glowworms Special Correspondent to the Manchester Guardian and the Baltimore More of Arthur Ransome’s Fishing Articles From 1910 to 1935. Sun. Arthur’s encounters with the Warlords, Revolutionaries and CRISP, Paul; [RANSOME, Arthur] Missee Lee. Amazon Publications, 2011. First edition, limited issue. Original RANSOME, Arthur green cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the pictorial dustwrap- Amazon Publications, 2006. First edition in dustwrapper. A fine per. A fine copy in a fine dustwrapper. [36909] £45 copy in dustwrapper. [39116] £35 Printed for subscribers to Amazon Publications. A collection of pre- PROVENANCE: From the library of John Cowen, with his order form viously uncollected articles on fishing by Arthur Ransome, those not loosely inserted. published in Rod & Line, Mainly on Fishing and Arthur Ransome On Fishing. PROVENANCE: From the collection of John Cowen, Ransome collector and scholar.

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JONKERS RARE BOOKS

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