JOHN BETJEMAN. Ghastly Good Taste; or, a Depressing Story of the Rise and Fall of English Architecture. Together with a beautiful forty-inch folding illustration by Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh. Chapman & Hall, London 1933. First edition - the scarce first state with the uncancelled page at 119/120 retaining the reference to 'Mowbray'. 8vo. 136pp + double-spread 'family tree' and a multi-panel folding illustration. Paper-covered blue cloth with a paper spine label. Boards lightly discoloured and marked, with a little light wear to the corner tips and to some other extremities. Binding just a little tender at the half-title, and with a hint of spotting to the top- and fore edge. Tipped in errata slip, as required. A very nice, bright copy of Betjeman's second book. Lacking the scarce dust wrapper. The folding Fleetwood-Hesketh drawing has been damaged, probably by silverfish, necessitating a taped repair in two areas. £75
JOHN BETJEMAN. Ghastly Good Taste; or, a Depressing Story of the Rise and Fall of English Architecture. Together with a beautiful forty-inch folding illustration by Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh. Chapman & Hall, London 1933. First edition, second state (with a cancelled leaf at p.119 which removes the reference to 'Mowbray'. This copy signed by the author to the front free endpaper in a rather shaky hand. 8vo. 136pp + double-spread 'family tree' and multi-panel folding illustration. Paper-covered blue cloth with paper spine label (and a spare tipped to the rear pastedown). Boards slightly discoloured and with just a hint of wear to one or two extremities. A little tape residue marking to the front endpapers, from where a protective covering was once adhered). Tipped in errata slip, as required. A very good, bright copy with the front flap only of the scarce dust wrapper laid-in. £150
JOHN BETJEMAN. Ghastly Good Taste; or, a Depressing Story of the Rise and Fall of English Architecture. Together with a beautiful forty-inch folding illustration by Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh. Anthony Blond, London 1970. The deluxe issue of the revised edition, designed by Sebastian Carter and limited to 200 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #67). 4to. xxviii + 112pp. Quarter cloth with a leather backstrip. The leather just a fraction chafed at the backstrip, else in fine state. No dust wrapper called for, but housed in the original cloth-covered slipcase. £200
JOHN BETJEMAN (writing as 'Epsilon').Sir John Piers. Mullinger, The Westmeath Examiner [1938]. First Edition, limited to just 50 copies. Slim 8vo. 10pp. Stapled card wrappers, lightly sunned at the extremities, and with the front wrapper serving as the title page. With four inked alternations in the author's hand. Illustrated with two fairly poorly reproduced photographs of Tristernagh Abbey. Extremely scarce. A spoof biographical study in verse of Sir John Piers, a notorious bankrupt who was tried in 1807 on charges of criminal conspiracy for making a 'diabolical wager' to seduce Lord Cloncurrys wife. It was written whilst Betjeman was staying at Packenham Hall, Ireland with Edward and Christine Longford and printed by the local paper. £1,500
JOHN BETJEMAN. An Oxford University Chest. Comprising a Description of the Present State of the Town and University of Oxford. Illustrated in line and half-tone by László Moholy-Nagy (photographs from his very first visit to Oxford), Osbert Lancaster, the Rev. Edward Bradley and others. John Miles, London 1938. First edition. 4to. 192pp. Buckram-backed cockerell marbled paper boards. Top edge gilt. Some spotting to fore edge and several preliminary leaves. Upper board fractionally lifting. Neat former owner gift inscription inked to the front free endpaper. A very good copy in marked, creased, toned, dust soiled and internally reinforced dust wrapper. £125
JOHN BETJEMAN. Antiquarian Prejudice. A lecture. Hogarth Press, 'Hogarth Sixpenny Pamphlets' series, London 1939. First edition. Slim 8vo. 30pp. Sewn card wrappers. Paperstock lightly tanned at the margins. A very good copy of the third volume in the Hogarth Sixpenny Pamphlets series. £20
JOHN BETJEMAN AND HUGH CASSON. A Handbook on Paint. Colour and Controversy. The Silicate Paint Co, London 1939. First edition. This copy signed by Hugh Casson on the title page. Slim 8vo. 48pp. Paper-covered boards. With a colour frontispiece and four colour plates. Top edge and several preliminary leaves lightly spotted. Backstrip ends fractionally rubbed else a very good copy. No dust wrapper called for. Betjeman contributes the seven-page essay Colour and the Interior Decorator which he concludes with seven 'general rules', the final and certainly most important of which is "Avoid most shades of brown". Casson contributes the six-page essay Colour and the Architect. Extremely scarce, and much more so signed. £350
JOHN BETJEMAN. New Bats in Old Belfries. Poems. John Murray, London 1945. Second impression, published in the same month of the first. This copy signed by the author on the front free endpaper in a rather shaky hand, and with his compliments slip laid-in. Slim 8vo. 54pp. Red cloth with paper title label to the upper board. Bookplate of Betjeman scholar and bibliographer Peter Gammond to the front pastedown, and his neat name and date inked to the tip of the front free endpaper. A very good copy in dust wrapper, tanned at the spine panel, with several tiny tears and two small areas of edge-loss. Twenty-four poems. £200
JOHN BETJEMAN. Selected Poems. Chosen and with a preface by John Sparrow. John Murray, London 1948. First edition. This copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to writer and broadcaster Arthur Marshall, Betjeman's regular panel show partner. Slim 8vo. 127pp. Red cloth with a printed paper spine label. A very good copy in later fifth impression dust wrapper, which is lightly toned and dust soiled and with little internal reinforcement. Thirty-six poems. The inscription itself is a prime example of Betjeman wit: "To Arthur Marshall B.S.C., from his colleague on the engineering side. John Betjeman". It is difficult to imagine a less 'engineering' couple than this giggling two-some. £150
JOHN BETJEMAN. First and Last Loves. Edited by Myfanwy Piper and with original illustrations and a dust wrapper design by John Piper. John Murray, London 1952. First edition. 8vo. xi, 244pp. Decorated cream cloth, lettered in blue at the spine. Illustrated with photographs and reproductions, plus twenty-four drawings and a four-side folding panorama by John Piper. Endpapers fractionally browned. Tiny dealer plate to the front pastedown. Very good indeed in the John Piper dust wrapper, lightly tanned at the spine panel, and with just a trace of light spotting to the front panel. A collection of essays on "architecture and places" culled by Myfanwy Piper from "dead papers, yellowing typescripts and periodicals" and covering the usual spectrum of Betjeman passions: Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Leeds, London Railway Stations, nonconformist and Victorian architecture, churches, Weymouth, Lyndhurst, Padstow, Ilfracombe et al. £95
JOHN BETJEMAN. A Few Late Chrysanthemums. Poems. John Murray, London 1954. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to just 50 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #40). Slim 8vo. vi, 95pp. Full white buckram. With marbled endpapers, and a gilt top edge, the others rough-trimmed. Buckram very lightly marked in two or three places, and with a tiny bump to the tip of one corner. Light superficial crease to the half-title. Pencilled former owner name to an unprinted preliminary leaf, alongside which is a pencilled note stating "from the collection of Michael Sadlier. Sothebys. 17 Nov 1958". A super copy of a most uncommon volume. No dust wrapper called for, but lacking the original unprinted tissue protector, but with a fresh sheet of acetate supplied. Thirty-four poems. £600
JOHN BETJEMAN. Poems in the Porch. With illustrations by John Piper. S.P.C.K., London 1954. First edition. Slim 8vo. Unpaginated [21pp]. Stapled card wrappers featuring a blue-stamped John Piper illustration. The wrappers a little tanned and lightly creased at the yapped edges, and the staples rusted. A very good copy. Six poems by Betjeman, originally read by the poet on BBC's West of England Home Service, and all bar one hitherto unprinted, accompanied by handsome John Piper illustrations. Laid-in are photocopies of two letters from S.P.C.K. (the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge) to the author regarding the planned follow-up Verses in the Vestry which ultimately never saw publication. £25
JOHN BETJEMAN. Collins Guide to English Parish Churches. Edited and with an introduction by John Betjeman. Collins, London 1958. First edition. 8vo. 480pp. Buckram. Illustrated with sixty-six photographs including many contributed by Edwin Smith and John Piper, plus drawings by Piper. Endpapers lightly browned else in fine state with handsome pictorial price-clipped dust wrapper designed by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, lightly marked at the rear panel and internally reinforced. A county-by-county guide to over 4,000 English parish churches selected by Betjeman for their architectural, atmospheric and aesthetic merit. £25
JOHN BETJEMAN. John Betjeman's Collected Poems. Compiled and with an introduction by The Earl of Birkenhead. John Murray, London 1958. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #17). Slim 8vo. xxvi, 279pp. Full red leather, printed on Oxford India paper. Cockerell marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt. The leather fractionally chafed in one or two places and a hint of spotting to the first blank fly leaf. A virtually fine copy. No dust wrapper called for, but housed in the original marbled still card slipcase, which is fractionally rubbed at one or two extremities. £500
JOHN BETJEMAN. Marjorie M.Barber. A Short History of Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, Chelsea. With a foreword by John Betjeman and etchings, decorations and delightful illuminations in the style of William Morris by William Gilby. Printed at the St. Christopher Press, Letchworth 1958. Second Edition, and the first with this Betjeman foreword, issued in a limited edition of just 50 numbered copies with five tipped-in etchings signed by the artist. Unpaginated. Full decorated gilt morocco covers with five raised bands. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Sunned at spine and extremities and lightly chafed at some corners and edges. A very good copy of an extremely scarce volume. Holy Trinity is "the cathedral of the Arts and Crafts movement" - Betjeman. £500
JOHN BETJEMAN. Summoned by Bells. With drawings by Michael Trees. John Murray, London 1960. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 125 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #35). 8vo. 111pp. Full green morocco with gilt lettering and embossed bell decorations to the upper and lower boards. Top edge gilt. Printed on handmade paper with a tissue-guarded portrait frontispiece and a full-page photograph of the author which does not appear in the trade edition. A tiny trace of wear to the head and base of the backstrip. A virtually fine copy. No dust wrapper caller for. A superb copy of the deluxe issue of Betjeman's celebrated nine-part verse autobiography. £350
JOHN BETJEMAN. Summoned by Bells. With drawings by Michael Trees. Paradine by arrangement with John Murray, London 1977. The deluxe issue of the second edition, limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #56) and issued on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. 8vo. 115pp. Full blue morocco, gilt lettered, ruled and decorated, with two raised bands. All edges gilt. With marbled endpapers and all of Michael Tree's illustrations here hand-coloured. The backstrip lightly sunned, else a fine copy of a very handsome production, housed in original decorated stiff card slipcase with a gilt vignette on leather. This revised edition includes the additional text 'Cricket Master / (An Incident)', plus various extras which were only previously included in the 1960 deluxe limited edition plus, a facsimile page of the draft typescript inviting comments from Tom Driberg, John Sparrow and John Murray with the author's replies. £275
JOHN BETJEMAN. Victorian Architecture. Edited by Peter Ferriday and with a two-page introduction by John Betjeman. Jonathan Cape, London 1963. First edition. 4to. 305pp. Cloth-backed decorated paper-covered boards. With ninety-seven illustrations and a further eleven in the text. The tip of one corner knocked and with a tiny hint of spotting to the fore edge and the rear endpaper. A very good copy in fine double spread pictorial dust wrapper. £35
JOHN BETJEMAN. The Blue House Restored. With a one-page foreword by John Betjeman. The Blue House Appeal Committee, Frome 1965. First edition. John Betjeman's copy, signed by him in red ink at the foot of his foreword. 32pp. Card wrappers. In fine state. Laid-in is a letter of thanks to Betjeman from the Chairman of the Restoration Fund. An account of the restoration of The Blue House, formally the Bluecoat School and Almshouses, a Grade I listed building in Frome, built in 1726 to provide accommodation for twenty widows, and schooling for twenty boys. £85
JOHN BETJEMAN. High and Low. Poems. With a preface in verse by the author. John Murray, London 1966. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #23). 8vo. 81pp. White buckram. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. In fine state and with the original unprinted acetate protector, fractionally nicked. Thirty-four poems. £300
JOHN BETJEMAN. A Wembley Lad [and] The Crem. Poem-of-the-Month Club, London, 1971. First edition, limited to 1000 copies, each signed by the author and this one hand corrected by Betjeman (two words from the last line of 'The Crem' are crossed out and replaced, an alteration Betjeman made to all copies). A single broadsheet, measuring 379mm x 281mm. In fine state. £100
JOHN BETJEMAN. A Pictorial History of English Architecture. John Murray, London 1972. The deluxe issue of the first edition. limited to 100 numbered copies, signed by the author (this being #94). 4to. 112pp. Buckram-backed cockerell paper boards. Decorated endpapers. Top edge gilt. Numerous photographs, mainly in colour and with some full-page presentations, by various photographers including Margaret Harker, Edwin Smith, A.F.Kersting, Michael Holford, et al. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for, but housed in the original marbled stiff card slipcase. £300
JOHN BETJEMAN. A Nip in the Air. Poems. John Murray, London 1974. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 175 numbered copies printed on handmade paper and signed by the author (this being #116). Slim 8vo. 62pp. Full yellow buckram. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Handsome marbled endpapers. The backstrip ends fractionally rubbed, else in fine state. No dust wrapper called for, but house in the original unprinted acetate protector, a little torn and nicked, but with a fresh sheet also supplied. Twenty-seven poems, all making their first appearance in book form, with nine hitherto unprinted. £225
JOHN BETJEMAN. The Eighteen-Nineties. A Literary Exhibition September 1973. Supplement to the Catalogue compiled by Dr. G.Krishnamurti. With a foreword by Sir John Betjeman. The Francis Thompson Society and Enitharmon Press, London 1974. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 60 numbered casebound copies signed by Dr. Krishnamurti and John Betjeman (this being #8). Slim 8vo. 24pp. Marbled paper-covered boards. Top edge gilt. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for. Detailing thirty-nine items which arrived too late to be included in the main exhibition catalogue. £100
JOHN BETJEMAN. Mount Zion or In Touch with the Infinite. The James Press, London and St. Martin's Press, New York 1975. A facsimile reprint of Betjeman's first book, issued here in the 'Poetry Reprint' series and reproduced from a copy held by the British Library. Slim 8vo. 57pp. Tip of one corner knocked and some other extremities very lightly chafed. A very good copy. No dust wrapper called for. Twenty-one poems. £35
JOHN BETJEMAN AND HUGH CASSON. Sketch Book. A Personal Choice of London Buildings Drawn 1971-1974. With a two sheet holograph introduction by John Betjeman and a single sheet holograph preface by Casson. Lion and Unicorn Press, London 1975. First edition, limited to just 100 copies signed by both Betjeman and Casson (this being #29). Thirty sketchbook sheets with a spiral binding. Twenty-five superb full page colour drawings commissioned by the Illustrated London News. Cover sheet slightly creased else in virtually fine state. £300
JOHN BETJEMAN. Sir John Betjeman. Books and Manuscripts from the Collection of Duncan Andrews. The catalogue of an exhibition sponsored by The English Poetry Collection, Wellesley Collage Library, Massachusetts 1976. [no publisher], 1976. The dedication copy - inscribed by Duncan Andrews to Penelope [Chetwode], Betjeman's wife, to whom the catalogue is dedicated "in appreciation of a warm and treasured friendship". Fifteen double-sided unpaginated A4 sheets stapled into plain card wrappers with a handwritten title. The catalogue of an exhibition of ninety items. A little spotting to first leaf else very good. Some occasional inked marginalia. "This exhibition, as far as I am aware, is the first one to ever be held of the work of Sir John Betjeman, Britain's Poet Laureate and the most popular contemporary poet". £75
JOHN BETJEMAN. Walter Crane. Cartoons for the Cause. Designs and Verses for the Socialist and Labour Movement 1986-1996. With a foreword by John Betjeman. The Journeyman Press, London and the Marx Memorial Library 1976. A new edition of the original 1896 Twentieth Century Press issue, with a new foreword by Betjeman. Two copies preserved in a single folio presentation folder consisting of the ordinary edition which was limited to 500 copies and the deluxe issue of 100 numbered copies printed on mould-made rag paper and signed by Betjeman. Both in fine state. Crane's splendid drawings, poems and stories published over a ten year period for the socialist movement were published for the first time as a collection by the Twentieth Century Press as a souvenir of the International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress in 1896. The Twentieth Century Press was one of the only radical commercial printers in London at the turn of the century, and occupied the same premises as those now occupied by the Marx Memorial Library (for whose members the signed limited issue of this volume was prepared). The building, 37a Clerkenwell Green, was under threat for a number of years and, almost inevitably, Betjeman was one of its champions. £225
JOHN BETJEMAN. Continual Dew. A Little Book of Bourgeois Verse. John Murray, London 1977. Facsimile reissue of the first edition. Slim 8vo. 45pp. Gilt-decorated black cloth featuring a handsome Osbert Lancaster design. All edges gilt. In fine state with virtually fine McKnight Kauffer-designed dust wrapper. Promotional Betjeman bookmark laid-in. £20
JOHN BETJEMAN. Continual Dew. A Little Book of Bourgeois Verse. John Murray, London 1977. The scarce withdrawn facsimile reissue, bound in the incorrect colour cloth (green rather than black). Slim 8vo. 45pp. Gilt-decorated cloth featuring a handsome Osbert Lancaster design. All edges gilt. In fine state with fine dust wrapper. Promotional Betjeman bookmark laid-in. Most uncommon. £55
JOHN BETJEMAN. Archie & the Strict Baptists. With illustrations by Phillida Gili. John Murray, London 1977. First edition. Small slim 4to. [28pp]. In fine state with dust wrapper, very lightly rubbed at head of spine panel and with a single tiny tear. The story of Archibald Ormsby-Gore, a strict Baptist teddy bear from Uffington with a curious obsession with Aneucapnic lamps. Written by Betjeman for his family and originally accompanied by his own rough sketches, here delightfully reinterpreted by Phillida Gili (the daughter of Reynolds Stone). £50
JOHN BETJEMAN AND JOHN PIPER. Church Poems. With illustrations by John Piper. John Murray, London 1980. First edition, the scarce withdrawn issue which erroneously omits the last seven lines of the poem Bristol and Clifton,and two pages of the poem Sunday Afternoon in St. Enodoc Church, Cornwall. 8vo. 65pp. Thirty poems from various collection accompanied by eighteen Piper drawings, six full-page. In fine state with dust wrapper, very lightly faded at the spine panel. The printing errors necessitated a complete recall and a corrected edition was published the following year. £95
JOHN BETJEMAN AND JOHN PIPER. Church Poems. With illustrations by John Piper. John Murray, London 1981. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 100 copies signed by both Betjeman and Piper (this being #85). 8vo. 65pp. Watered silk-backed green buckram,. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Thirty poems from various collections accompanied by eighteen drawings by John Piper, six of which are presented full-page. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for. £250
JOHN BETJEMAN. Archie & the Strict Baptists. With watercolours by the author. Long Barn Books 2006. First edition thus, a facsimile of Betjeman's original notebook containing this delightful story penned for his children, plus his accompanying illustrations, here limited to 500 numbered copies. Faux-distressed paperstock. All edges gilt. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for, but housed in the original stiff card slipcase. Scarce. £225
JOHN BETJEMAN. Metro-land. Verses by Sir John Betjeman and lithographs by Glynn Boyd Harte. Warren Editions, London 1977. First edition, limited to 220 numbered copies signed by both John Betjeman and Glynn Boyd Harte (this being #131). Landscape 8vo. Unpaginated. White cloth with an in-set lithographic title plate. Delightfully illustrated with a frontispiece and fourteen superb lithographic colour plates printed at the Curwen Press on mould-made paper, each with a tissue-guard protector and accompanied by a Betjeman verse. In fine state with the original clothbound solander case, lettered in gold and with a blind-stamped title design. Scarce and very desirable. The first bookform publication of the verses Betjeman wrote to accompany Edward Mirzoeff's celebrated 1973 documentary film of the same name celebrating suburban life in the area to the north-west of London around the Metropolitan Railway. Widely considered Betjeman's greatest on-screen achievement. £750
JOHN BETJEMAN. The Silver Jubilee of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II: 1952-1977. Guild of Gloucester Craftsmen, Gloucester 1977. First edition of this broadsheet poem. Designed by Norman Littleton, Guild of Gloucester Craftsmen, Gloucester 1977. 377mm x 251mm. In fine state. Scarce. In May 1967 Price Charles, unaware of the extent to which Parkinson's Disease was affecting Betjeman, asked the Laureate if he could provide "one of your masterpieces of scansion for the Queen's Jubilee". The poor reaction to the piece which Betjeman eventually managed to produce is well documented. £65
JOHN BETJEMAN. Theodore Wratislaw. Oscar Wilde: A Memoir. With a foreword by John Betjeman and an introduction and notes by Karl Beckson. The Eighteen Nineties Society, 'Makers of the Nineties' series, London 1979. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 50 numbered copies signed by Betjeman and the series editor G.Krishnamurti (this being #A23). Slim 8vo. 21pp. White buckram. With a portrait frontispiece of the author and four plates. Errata slip laid-in, as issued. In fine state with the original unprinted tissue protector. £200
JOHN BETJEMAN. Theodore Wratislaw. Oscar Wilde: A Memoir. With a foreword by John Betjeman and an introduction and notes by Karl Beckson. The Eighteen Nineties Society, 'Makers of the Nineties' series, London 1979. First edition, limited to 500 numbered copies (this being #54). Slim 8vo. 21pp. With a portrait frontispiece of the author and four plates. Errata slip laid-in, as issued. In fine state with very good dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at the top edge. £35
JOHN BETJEMAN. A Garland for the Laureate. Poems presented to Sir John Betjeman on his 75th birthday. Edited by Roger Pringle. The Calendine Press, Stratford-upon-Avon 1981. First edition, 1 of 75 numbered casebound copies (this being #82), from a total edition of 350 copies (200 were bound in wrappers, and a further 75 casebound examples were signed by all of the contributors). 4to. Unpaginated. Buckram-backed marbled boards. Edges untrimmed. With a handsome title page decoration by Miriam Macgregor. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for. Twenty-two poems, all bar two previously unprinted, including contributions from Kingsley Amis, Leonard Clark, Charles Causley, Roy Fuller, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, Norman Nicholson, Alan Ross, Sacheverell Sitwell, Stephen Spender, R.S.Thomas, Anthony Thwaite, John Wain, Laurence Whistler and others. Laid in is a letter from the editor / publisher to Betjeman's daughter Candida detailing the interesting background of the project ("The project was kept a secret from J.B. and the book was presented to him by Roger Pringle as a surprise one morning, with many of the poets involved also present, having arrived at his Radnor Walk house in a fleet of taxis, accompanied by bottles of champagne and smoked salmon sandwiches"). A very handsome production. £125
JOHN BETJEMAN. Ode on the Marriage of HRH Prince Charles to the Lady Diana Spender in St. Paul's Cathedral on 29 July 1981. Warren Editions (Jonathan & Phillida Gili), London 1981. First edition of this broadsheet poem, limited to 125 signed copies. 415mm x 283mm. Designed by Jonathan Gili, printed by Skelton's Press and with handsome two-colour decorations by Phillida Gili. This late Betjeman's signature is in a very shaky hand. In fine state. Uncommon. £200
JOHN BETJEMAN. Uncollected Poems. With a foreword by Bevis Hillier. John Murray, London 1982. The deluxe issue of the first edition, limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the author (this being #28). Small 8vo. 81pp. 8vo. Maroon buckram. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. In fine state. No dust wrapper called for, but housed in the original marbled stiff card slipcase. Twenty-nine poems, all bar one hitherto unprinted in bookform and the vast majority never previously printed at all. £250
JOHN BETJEMAN. Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and work of Sir John Betjeman, CBE. 1906-1984: Poet Laureate. The order of service at Westminster Abbey, Friday 29 June 1984. First edition. Slim 8vo. 14pp. Stapled wrappers, very slightly marked and toned. A very good copy. Two of Betjeman's poems are reproduced: Trebetherick (which was read by John Oaksey), and South London Sketch, 1844 (which was read by Prunella Scales). £50
JOHN BETJEMAN. A Catalogue of Works by John Betjeman from the Collection of Ray Carter. With an unpublished poem and illustrations by John Piper, Phillida Gili and Glynn Boyd Harte, and an introduction by Philip Larkin. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1989. First edition, the deluxe casebound issue, limited to just 80 numbered copies printed on Lana cotton rag paper, bound into cloth, and signed by John Betjeman, Boyd Harte, Phillida Gili and John Piper [this being #77]. Slim 8vo. Unpaginated. Paper-covered cloth. A minor scuff to the tip of the front free endpaper, else a fine copy with virtually fine dust wrapper. Laid-in is a signed typewritten letter from Ray Carter to fellow Betjeman scholar Peter Gammond. A superb copy of the deluxe issue of this catalogue of a 1983 exhibition at St Paul's School. £300
JOHN BETJEMAN. Paul Hogarth. In Praise of Churches. With colour illustrations by Paul Hogarth. John Murray, London 1996. First edition. This copy inscribed by the illustrator to Betjeman scholar Peter Gammond and with two accompanying signed type-written letters from Hogarth to Gammond laid-in. Small 4to. 138pp. A small bump to the head of the backstrip, else a fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, with a corresponding area of chafing to the head of the spine panel. A delightfully illustrated anthology of Betjeman’s prose and poetry writings on churches. £25
JOHN BETJEMAN. Bevis Hillier. Young Betjeman [and] John Betjeman. New Fame, New Laughter [and] Betjeman: The Bonus of Laughter. John Murray, London 2002-04. Hillier's mammoth three-volume biography of John Betjeman. The first volume a re-issue, the other two first editions (first printings). 8vo. 477pp, 736pp & 745pp. Original publisher's boards. Illustrated with photographs, line drawings and reproductions. The first two volumes inscribed by the author to Betjeman scholar and bibliography Peter [Gammond] and his wife, and with two greetings cards also laid-in. The third volume includes a letter from the publisher presenting it to Gammond with Hillier's thanks, plus also a lengthy two-page handwritten letter from the author thanking Gammond for his generous review and clarifying one or two points. All three volumes in fine state with virtually fine dust wrappers. £75
JOHN BETJEMAN. The Order of Service for a Wreathlaying to Mark the Centenary of the Birth of Sir John Betjeman in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey at 11.30am on Monday August 28th 2006. First edition. Slim 8vo. A single sheet folded to form four pages. A quite light horizontal crease where it was once folded, and with a single short ragged enclosed tear. £25
Clearwater Books - Specialising in Henry Williamson and Modern First Editions
