Scarce with the wrapper

Waugh, Alec ~ On Doing What One Likes : Inscribed by the Author In The Year of Publication

First UK Printing : The Cayme Press, Kensington : 1926

The First UK Printing published by The Cayme Press, Kensington in 1926. 8vo., cloth-backed paste paper board, printed label with decorative borders lettered in black to the spine; Top-stain purple; outer edge untrimmed; with decorative initials and a frontis drawing facing title by Evelyn Waugh (his brother, showing a design for a bookplate for Alec); together in the wrapper utilising the same image, printed in brown with decorative borders and advertisements for other books by the Cayme Press to the lower panel; priced 7s. 6d. to spine; THE BOOK a Very Good++ example with the boards a little bit warped and light spotting throughout, more-so affecting the first and last few pages, as well as the outer edges; the WRAPPER is in Very Good + condition, spotted and darkened along the spine and in a section to the lower panel, one or two darker spots, nicks and small chips at the head of spine. Small closed tear to the lower front panel edge. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. This copy inscribed by the author in his instantly recognisable hand in the year of publication : 'For R. E. Neale, from his friend and colleague, with best wishes, Alec Waugh, 10.6.26'. The recipient was at that time, director at the publisher’s Chapman & Hall. Alec Waugh was somewhat overshadowed in his lifetime by his elder brother, Evelyn, though Alec too began writing from a young age. His first published work, 'The Loom of Youth' was inspired by his experiences at Sherborne School in Dorset, and was highly controversial at the time for its homosexual undertones. After serving in the First World War, and spending much of it in prisoner of war camps, Waugh remained a successful writer. On Doing What One Likes is a collection of entertaining and often humorous essays on various subjects. Along with the title essay, other offerings include A Norwegian Holiday, The Perfect Dinner, The Case for Snobbery and How Not to Read Novels. One or two passages present here were taken directly from the author’s novel Kept: A Story of Post-War London, which had been published the previous year. Scarce

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good++
JACKET: Very Good+