Shell Guide John Betjeman (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 2nd Edition. The Faber re-issue of this Shell Guide, published three years after the original Architectural Press edition. A bookplate to the front pastedown states that this copy was bequeathed to the Library of the Royal Empire Society by Flying-Officer R.T.E.Latham, August 1944 and two ink stamps confirm that it was subsequently withdrawn from stock. These two stamps, plus two neatly inked sets of numerals, one to the front pastedown and one to the index page are the only indications of former library ownership. Small 4to. 54pp. Original white publisher's cloth with internal wire spiral binding, blocked in blue at the spine. Illustrated with four colour maps and thirty-eight photographs. Some staining to the cloth at head of the upper and lower boards, and half a dozen small spots of foxing to the backstrip spine. Internally a very crisp and bright copy in non-price-clipped dust wrapper, which is a little dust soiled and chafed, with a little creased to the top edge and a single tiny area of loss.…

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 2nd Edition. The revised second edition, which was allegedly restricted to 1230 copies with only 250 copies initially bound. Small 4to. 63pp. White cloth with an internal wire spiral binding, blocked in red at the spine. Photographic endpapers. Illustrated with four colour maps and thirty-seven photographs, several double-spread. Indication of removal of tiny sticker from the corner of the front pastedown. A very good copy of an extremely scarce volume, in tanned and slightly dust marked non-price-clipped dust wrapper, rubbed and creased at the head of the spine panel but with no loss. Faber replaced The Architectural Press as publisher of the Shell Guide series in 1939 and republished all of the existing titles in cloth with internal spiral wire binding. These 1939 Faber re-issues are the scarcest volumes in the Shell cannon.…

Paperback, Ringbound. 9 x 7 inches. B&W photo covers with red ring binder to spine, lettered in silver. In very good condition. Some minor rubbing to edges and corners of cover, some rubbing to lettering on spine ring. 7 perforations torn at bottom end of spine on front cover. Errata slip at p.5 Intro. Some minor light foxing spots to edges of a few pages, one or two minor handling marks, pencil ticks next to towns in Gazetteer. Else a very good clean and tight copy. 55pp. 4 colour maps.…