Clearwater Books

H.E.BATES. The Last Bread. A play in one act. The Labour Publishing Company Ltd, London 1926. First edition of Bates’ first published work, preceding his first novel by several months. 18pp. Cotton-bound card wrappers with several short tears and three or four small areas of loss from edges. Two-inch tear to dedication leaf. A nice bright copy of quite a fragile production. Eads A2. £35

H.E.BATES. The Seekers. John and Edward Bumpus, London 1926. First edition – a presentations copy, fondly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper and dated the year of publication. Slim 8vo. 32pp. Paper-covered boards. The backstrip absent, and with some uneven darkening and a little soiling to the boards. Some fox-spotting to the endpapers and to several preliminary and concluding leaves. A pretty rotten copy, made tolerable by the author’s early inscription. No dust wrapper called-for, but a fresh sheet of protective acetate supplied in place of the original unprinted tissue protector. Bates' third published work, a short story for children, apparently sent out as a Christmas greeting by the publishers. Eads A4. £25

H.E.BATES. Day’s End and Other Stories. Jonathan Cape, London 1928. First edition. 8vo. 286pp. Top edge slightly spotted and binding just a little tender at the half-title. A trace of light partial browning to the free endpapers and to the half-title. A very good copy – particularly crisp internally – housed in the dust wrapper exhibiting some staining to the spine panel, and just a little dust soiling and a trace or two of edgewear. The author’s first full-length collection of short fiction, comprising twenty-five stories, with a printed dedication of George William Lucas, Bates’ maternal grandfather. 1,500 copies were printed. Eads A6. £125

H.E.BATES. A Threshing Day. A story. W and G.Foyle Ltd., London 1931. First edition, limited to 300 numbered copies, signed by the author (this being #289). Slim 8vo. 32pp. Buckram. The backstrip lightly faded and with just a little darkening to the front free endpapers and the merest hint of wear to two corner tips. A very good copy, lacking the unprinted glassine protector. No dust wrapper called for. The first bookform appearance of this twenty-six page Bates story, which first appeared in a 1930 issue of John O’London’s Weekly (under the title A Threshing Day for Esther), and was subsequently included in the collection The Black Boxer Tales (1932). Eads A12. £125

H.E.BATES. Mrs. Esmond's Life. A story. Privately Printed (by E.Lahr), London 1931. First edition, limited to 300 numbered copies, signed by the author (this being #258). Slim 8vo. 25pp. Full yellow buckram. Top edge gilt. The buckram a little marked and discoloured, and the endpapers and some upper margins a little fox-spotted. A nice crisp copy. No dust wrapper called for. The copy from the library of Bates collected and all-round good egg Tony Poucher, with his o’er sized bookplate to the front free endpaper. The first bookform appearance of this twenty-one page story, which was first printed under the title Charlotte Esmond in an October 1930 issue of the periodical The Criterion. Eads A13. £70

H.E.BATES. Charlotte's Row. Jonathan Cape, London 1931. First trade edition, of which 2,000 copies were printed. 8vo. 271pp. With a title page vignette by Ray Garnett, repeated on the dust wrapper. Two or three small areas of discolouration to cloth. A very good copy in edge worn and dust marked dust wrapper, with some significant loss to the spine panel and tanning to the remaining portion. Bates’ third novel. Eads A11. £35

H.E.BATES. Charlotte's Row. Jonathan Cape, London 1931. First trade edition. Spine faded and a little chipped at head. Cloth very lightly marked in one or two small areas. Rear gutter just a little tender. About a good copy, very crisp and bright internally, with a neat ink-stamped initial to front and rear pastedowns. No dust wrapper. Eads A11. £20

H.E.BATES. Sally Go Round the Moon. The White Owl Press, London 1932. First edition, one of 128 numbered and signed copies (out of a total edition of 150). 8vo. 42pp. Printed on wove-paper and half-bound in grey and buff buckram. Illustrated with three unaccredited vignettes which did not appear in the trade edition. Top edge green, others untrimmed. Endpapers lightly browned and with just the merest hint of chafing to corner tips, else a fine copy. No dust wrapper, as issued. Eads A15[c]. £150

H.E.BATES. David Garnett. A Terrible Day. A story. With a frontispiece by Duncan Grant and a foreword by H.E.Bates. Joiner & Steele Ltd., ‘The Furnival Books’ series, London 1932. First edition, limited to 550 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #404). Tall 8vo. 37pp. Buckram. The backstrip darkened and with some uneven fading to the upper and lower boards. The tip of one corner gently knocked and with a speckling of very light spotting to the free endpapers. Neat former owner nameplate to the front pastedown. Imprint statement slip tipped to the title page, as issued. A very good copy, lacking the unprinted glassine wrapper. A twenty-seven page story, issued as number nine of the Furnival Books series, and preceded by Bates’ ten-page foreword and Grant’s black and white frontispiece portrait of the author. Eads C9. £55

H.E.BATES. The Woman Who Had Imagination and Other Stories. Jonathan Cape, London 1934. First edition. 8vo. 288pp + i tipped-in advertisement leaf at the rear. A little spotting to the top- and fore edge, and a small area of spotting to the upper margin of the first half a dozen leaves. An unusually crisp and bright copy in the uncommon dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at the spine ends and at one or two other extremities, a little dust soiled, and with some fading to the publisher’s green spine panel lettering and decoration. Fourteen stories, all bar two here making their first bookform appearance, and including one hitherto unprinted story. 2,000 copies were printed. Eads A20. £95

H.E.BATES. The Duet. Grayson & Grayson, ‘The Grayson Books’ series, London 1935. First edition, limited to 285 numbered copies, signed by the author (this being #127). Slim 8vo. Unpaginated. With series-design decorated vellum endpapers and two small drawings by Joy Lloyd. A virtually fine copy. No dust wrapper. The first number of The Grayson Books series (which eventually ran to a total of twelve). Eads A24. £55

H.E.BATES. Cut and Come Again. Stories. Jonathan Cape, London 1935. First edition. 8vo. 285pp + viii publisher’s catalogue bound in at rear. Original publisher’s blue and brown flecked white cloth. Some patchy tanning to backstrip, edges and several preliminary leaves spotted and some browning to endpaper margins. Tip-Ex erasure to front endpaper and a small Times book club plate to the rear. Quite a bright copy, lacking the uncommon dust wrapper. Fourteen short stories, seven of which were previously issued in periodicals or limited editions with the other seven appearing in print here for the first time. 2,000 copies were printed. Eads A25. £15

“Mr. Bates is supreme among English short-story writers; and the work of most authors beside his appears shoddy, trivial or emotional”- Graham Greene reviewing this collection in The Spectator. 

H.E.BATES. Agnes Miller Parker. Down the River. With eighty-three wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. Victor Gollancz, London 1937. First edition. 4to. 150pp. Cloth lifting a fraction at several extremities, and with a little spotting to the fore edge and several instances of tape resides marks to the free endpapers, offset from the wrapper flaps. A very crisp and bright copy in the correct first state dust wrapper (priced at 10/6 net), lightly tanned and spotted with several short closed tears, two small areas of staining and several small slivers of loss from the spine ends. Contemporary former owner gift inscription inked to the front free endpaper. Agnes Miller Parker's delightful wood engravings comprise a title page illustration and vignette, six full-page plates and scores of illustrations and vignettes in the text. The companion piece to Through the Woods (1936). Eads A29. £50

H.E.BATES. My Uncle Silas. With drawings by Edward Ardizzone. Jonathan Cape, London 1939. First edition. 4to. 190pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece, a title page decoration, twenty-eight full-page drawings and various header pieces and illustrations in the text. A small sliver of discolouration to the head of the back strip where the dust wrapper is defective, and some light spotting to the edges and endpapers. A very good copy – particularly crisp internally – in dust wrapper, price-clipped, and a little dust soiled and tanned, with a small sliver of loss from the head of the spine panel and a few miscellaneous marks and blemishes. A four-page preface by the author precedes fourteen short stories, seven of them here making their first appearance in print. 2,000 copies were printed. Eads A35. £175

H.E.BATES. The Modern Short Story. A Critical Survey. Nelson, London 1941. First edition. 231pp Cloth-backed boards. Extreme edges of boards lightly spotted and discoloured. Endpapers lightly browned. Neat former owner name to front pastedown. Quite a bright copy in dusty and tanned dust wrapper, a little rubbed at extremities and internally reinforced. Eads A40. £20 

H.E.BATES. The Modern Short Story. A Critical Survey. Nelson, London 1941. First edition. 8vo. Cloth-backed boards, somewhat dusty and faded and just a little sprung. No jacket. Eads A40. £10 

H.E.BATES. O More Than Happy Countryman. With scraperboard illustrations by C.F.Tunnicliffe. Country Life Limited, London 1943. First edition. 4to. 104pp. With a frontispiece, ten full-page Tunnicliffe plates and fifteen further chapter header and footer decorations. Endpapers lightly spotted and with a contemporary former owner gift inscription neatly inked to the front free endpaper. A very good copy in rubbed, nicked and torn but essentially complete dust wrapper. Ten Bates stories, which were subsequently revised and amended to form one half of the 1949 publication The Country Heart, with these splendid Tunnicliffe scraperboard illustrations there replaced with equally splendid John Minton drawings. Eads A48. £20

H.E.BATES (writing as Flying Officer ‘X’). How Sleep the Brave and Other Stories. Jonathan Cape, London 1943. First edition. Slim 8vo. 80pp. A touch of light spotting to the top edge. A virtually fine copy, albeit printed on economy war-time paperstock, in a slightly tanned, chafed and dust soiled dust wrapper, with several tiny slivers of loss from the spine ends. Six short stories (two of them here making their first bookform appearance) comprising the title story, The Beginning of Things, The Disinherited, Croix de Guerre, Yours is the Earth and There's Something in the Air. Eads A47. £20

H.E.BATES. The Bride Comes to Evensford. Jonathan Cape, London 1943. First edition. Slim 8vo. 60pp. A tiny sliver of discolouration to cloth at spine ends where the dust wrapper is fractionally defective. A very good copy in Hans Tisdall-designed dust wrapper, a little chafed and dusty with a single short closed tear and a fraction of loss to spine ends and one or two other extremities. Contemporary former owner name inked to front endpaper, alongside a set of inked initials. 3,000 copies were printed. The first printing of this Bates story, not to be confused with the collection of the same name published six years later. Eads A44. £50

H.E.BATES (Published anonymously). There's Freedom in the Air. The Official Story of the Allied Air Forces from the Occupied Countries. Illustrated with photographs. H.M.S.O., London 1944. First edition. 35pp. Stapled pictorial wrappers, a little dust marked and edge-creased with a small area of chafing to the upper edge. The staples rusted and partially defective. Quite a bright copy. Prepared by Bates whilst serving at the Directorate of Public Relations at the Air Ministry. Eads A49. £5

H.E.BATES. Derriere les Communiques. Cape, Londres 1944. Card wrappers, a little creased and rubbed at overlapping edges. The Greatest People in the World in a French translation, here published for the first time under his own name, rather than his 'Flying Officer X' pseudonym. Published in London, probably for French circulation. £40

H.E.BATES contributes his short novel The Cruise of the Breadwinner to an issue of the periodical The Cornhill No. 967, April 1946. Card wrappers, a little dust marked. This appearance of Breadwinner precedes the book publication by three months, although its very first outing was one month earlier in The Saturday Evening Post. Bates' novel occupies the first 38 pages of this issue. eads B182.2. £15

H.E.BATES. The Country Heart. With drawings and a superb dust wrapper design by John Minton. Michael Joseph, London 1949. First edition with these splendid Minton illustrations. 8vo. 239pp. Beige cloth, lettered in green at spine and with the title-page decoration repeated on the upper board and with the publisher’s green top edge stain. Minton contributes a frontispiece, a title page decoration, two full-page drawings and forty-three header and tail pieces and vignettes. The edges lightly spotted, and with some more notable browning and spotting to the pastedowns and free endpapers, but thereafter a lovely crisp copy in the handsome double-spread pictorial colour dust wrapper, price-clipped and a little nicked and chafed in places, with some edge loss, chafing and fraying. Former owner name inked to the head of the front pastedown. Twenty-four stories, a considerably revised combination of Bates' previous collections O More than Happy Countryman (1948) and [In] 'The Heart of the Country' (1942). Eads A62. £35

H.E.BATES. The Scarlet Sword. Michael Joseph, London 1950. First edition. 248pp. Endpapers browned and front hinge just a fraction tender. A very crisp and bright copy in Broom Lynne dust wrapper, lightly chafed at edges, internally reinforced and with a small area of loss to top edge of front panel. Rear panel a little dust marked. Eads A67. £10

H.E.BATES. The Scarlet Sword. Little Brown, Boston 1951. The first American edition. 8vo. Covers very slightly faded here and there. A bright copy in frayed dust wrapper. eads A67b. £15

H.E.BATES. The Nature of Love. Three short novels. Michael Joseph, London 1953. First edition. 8vo. 240pp. A little browning and spotting to endpapers. Quite a bright copy in dusty, nicked, chipped and internally repaired dust wrapper with two or three fairly small areas of loss. Three novellas, two of which had been previously printed in periodicals (The Grass God in a 1951 Cornhill Magazine supplement and The Delicate Nature in a July 1952 issue of Argosy), with the first, Dulcima, appearing in print here for the first time. Eads A79. £10

H.E.BATES. The Sleepless Moon. A novel. Michael Joseph, London 1956. First edition. 8vo. 383pp. A small area of staining to the top edge and a strip of browning to endpapers. A very good copy in dust wrapper, just fractionally soiled, chafed and spotted. Eads A82. £20

H.E.BATES. Achilles and Diana. With illustrations by Carol Barker. Dennis Dobson, London 1963. First edition. 4to. Unpaginated. Colour pictorial boards featuring a design by Carol Barker who also provides a frontispiece, endpaper drawings and numerous plates and colour illustrations in the text. A single tiny indentation to the head of the read board and head of spine just a little rubbed. A virtually fine copy in pictorial dust wrapper, lightly tanned at spine panel, with just a trace spotting and two short jagged tears to the head of the rear panel and an accompanying crease. The second volume of the Achilles trilogy, a collaboration between Bates and Barker which began with Achilles the Donkey (1962) and concluded with Achilles and the Twins (1964). Eads A96. £50

H.E.BATES. A Love of Flowers. With illustrations by Pauline Ellison. Michael Joseph, London 1971. First edition of Bates’ “very personal gardening book”. 8vo. 160pp. A single inked correction to a typo in the author’s preface, else a fine copy in price-clipped and slightly chafed and dust marked dust wrapper. Former owner bookplate to front pastedown. Eads A112. £5

H.E.BATES. The Song of the Wren. Michael Joseph, London 1972. First edition. 8vo. 168pp. Some spotting to top edge and upper board lifting a fraction. A very good copy in pictorial dust wrapper, very lightly faded at spine panel. eads A113. £10

H.E.BATES. The Yellow Meads of Asphodel. Stories. Michael Joseph, London 1976. First edition. 8vo. 127pp. A hint of dust soiling to the top edge, else a fine copy in very slightly dust marked dust wrapper, very lightly faded at the spine panel. The author’s final collection of short fiction, published posthumously and comprising seven stories, all bar one of them hitherto unprinted. Eads A120 £10

H.E.BATES. The Yellow Meads of Asphodel. A story. With drawings by John Ward. Michael Joseph, London 1976. The first separate edition of this posthumously-published Bates’ story, issued in a limited edition of 350 copies to celebrate the publisher’s fortieth anniversary. Slim 8vo. 32pp. With a title page decoration and sixteen drawings by John Ward. A virtually fine copy. No dust wrapper called for, but lacking the unprinted glassine protector. Eads A121. £20