The Story of the Iliad [Ransford MC, Little Appley]

Published: 1902. Not signed by author. 1902 Little Appley Prep School association copy belonging to William Macalister Ransford, M.C., a future Military Cross recipient and the father-in-law of the Dean of Ripon. PROVENANCE: Mr M. Ransford, Little Appley Preparatory School, Ryde. DESCRIPTION: Full calf leather binding with gilt decorated borders and ruled five ridged spine with gilt decorated panels. Gilt stamped red leather title plate. Gilt dentelles. Marbled edges and endpapers Language: English Book Condition: Very Good. Light wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Light stain to upper front board. Small mark to rear board. Tightly bound with clean intact endpapers and strong hinges. Clean unmarked pages. DJ Condition: No DJ. Size: 18. 5 cm by 12. 5 cm. PROVENANCE BACKGROUND: From a collection of books featuring the names Ransford, Bentinck, Barnett, and Birchenough. 1905 Mill Hill School prize plate awarded to William Macalister Ransford (1888-1972). The volume features the signature of the eminent polymath and Headmaster Sir John David McClure. William Macalister Ransford (1890-1971, M. C. ) was the son of prominent Bath surgeon Thomas Davis Ransford FRCS of 6 Queen Square. Educated at Little Appley Preparatory School, Ryde (1903), before progressing to Mill Hill School (1906) , the classic English public school upbringing of a surgeons son from a scholarly Georgian medical household. During the First World War he served as Temporary Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, earning the Military Cross for gallantry, before settling in Henley-on-Thames. Williams siblings included Ella Ransford (1884-1968), Headmistress at Croydon High School GDST (1925-1939), and Sir Alister John Ransford CIE (1895-1974) of the Royal Engineers Bombay and Mint Master in Bombay, India.…