LETTERS FROM COMPTON DEVERELL. By 'BB'. Illustrated by Denys Watkins-Pitchford A.R.C.A.

1950 1st edition. 8vo (142 x 220mm). Ppvi,281. B/w illustrations by D.J. Watkins-Pitchford, end-paper maps. Binding C - Green boards, spine titled in black.

A description of country life throughout the year in the form of letters from a countryman to a friend overseas. Natural history, field sports and carp and other observations of country life as it once was. Illustrated with full-page scraperboard plates and many smaller black-and-white illustrations by the author. "Where is Compton Deverell? It may be anywhere you choose in the English countryside, because 'BB' has drawn a living picture of that sort of delightful old house among fields and woods, the ideal English home which thousands of exiles and town dwellers remember from their childhood or hope to have in that future for which they work and plan. The letters are written by a countryman to a younger friend abroad and they describe the routine of country life throughout the months of the year as it engages an active man with a contemplative mind. They recount the discovery of the small signs of spring, the delights of summer and long days spent in the open air, and the white beauty of winter which the townsman hardly knows. The period includes the 'black winter' of 1947-48, which will long be remembered as the most severe of the century. Here then is a tranquil book designed for casual reading, calling up the very sights, sounds and smells of the English countryside. It is one of the most intimately observed of 'BB's' books, and one of the most endearing." * Two issues of the first edition appeared. The first had a red dust-wrapper with black-and-white illustration by BB and an original price of 16s. The second also had red cloth, but a new dust-wrapper with colour illustration by R.A. Atkinson and an original price of 7s 6d. The book blocks of both editions appear to be identical. There is also a third binding, green cloth, with black titles, issued in the Atkinson dust-wrapper, priced at 7s 6d.