Whittlebot (8 results)

Paperback. Condition: Fair. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration.

Hardback. Condition: Very Good-. Boards are age-toned and edgeworn with bumped corners; spine is slightly torn at crown; binding is tight; pages are age-toned and foxed, with off-setting on front and rear endpapers. Overall, this is a lovely copy with no markings from previous owners. ; 5.2 x 0.5 x 7.7 inches; 45 pages.

Hardback. Condition: Very Good. None (illustrator). First edition. The first edition of a poetry anthology poking fun at the avant-garde movement, created by the brilliant Noel Coward. The first edition of the poetry anthology Chelsea Buns, written by the prolific playwright Noel Coward under the pseudonym of Hernia Whittlebot. In the publisher's original quarter cloth, with floral paper boards. Contains a frontispiece of an avant-garde portrait of Miss Whittlebot. An amusing work characteristic of Coward's brilliant wit, this anthology pokes fun at the avant-garde movement which was flourishing in the early twentieth century, writing as the up-and-coming, yet fictional, French poet Hernia Whittlebot. Poems include Contours, Silly Boy, and Guava Jelly among many others playing on modernist themes. In the publisher's original quarter cloth, with floral paper boards. Externally, mostly smart, with fading to paper board extremities, and slight browning to the title label. Slight bumping to the head and tail of the spine, and to the extremities. Offsetting to free end papers. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean with slight age toning. Very Good. book.

Frontis portrait of Whittlebot, 7.5 x 5", patterned boards, 45pp, covers lightly rubbed, extremities worn, hinges loose, pp toned (esp. eps), very minor spotting in a rubbed, edge-worn and edge-torn creased and soiled dustjacket. "Wait, I must wash my hands in raspberry beer. The saucepan's azure face sheds Andalusian beans." Poetry; with introduction by Gaspard Pustontin. Included is a PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED BY NOEL COWARD; 5 x 3.25" photo of a seated Coward, light wear but boldly signed near top.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The First UK Printing published by Hutchinson & Co., London : 1924. 8vo., original patterned boards with cubist design printed in black, blue, yellow and green; red printed label to upper board; Vorticist parody frontis portrait of Miss Whittlebot after G. E. Calthrop; a Good to Very Good copy of a scarce work. The BOOK is rubbed, with boards and webbing showing through beneath at the spine edges, but the binding remains firm ; small splash stain to label; endpapers tonedand offset with a couple of spots throughout; lacking the scarce wrapper. The book is protected in a removable Mylar cover. A presentation copy, inscribed from Coward to Mollie on the front free endpaper. The recipient was Mary Mollie Montagu Douglas Scott (née Lascelles), Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensbury. This copy originally purchased from the estate of Ian Gilmour, son in law of Scott, but without any other ownership markings. Coward provides the Foreword and the book also includes an introduction, entirely in French, by Gaspard Pustontin. Coward s second collection of poems, Chelsea Buns is comprised of 22 poems, each of which parodies Edith Sitwell and modernist poetry. Coward had, the previous year, satirised the Sitwell siblings in The Swiss Family Whittlebot , which presents a poetess called Hernia Whittlebot. Played by Maisie Gay with lesbian overtones, Hernia "breakfasts on onions and Vichy water" while preparing the publication of her new books "Gilded Sluts" and "Garbage". The resulting feud between the Coward and Sitwell, perhaps unsurprisingly, lasted for several decades. They confronted each other across a class divide , Faye Hammill writes in Noel Coward and the Sitwells: enmity, celebrity, popularity, and also across the perceived barrier between difficult modernism and accessible popular entertainment. When Noel reportedly wrote to Edith to apologise, she responded "I accept your apology" and didn't speak to him again until the eve of her 70th birthday in 1957. Scarce with such attributes. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact. Inscribed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. The First UK printing published by Hutchinson, London in 1925. The BOOK is in Very Good+ condition. Publisher's original cloth-backed patterned paper-covered boards with the paper title label complete. Slight rubbing and a touch of wear to the extremities. Light offsetting to the blank end-papers and mild toning to the text-block. Free from inscriptions and erasures. The scarce fragile WRAPPER is in Very Good+ condition with some edge-wear and rubbing to the folds. Slight loss at the upper spine end. Some splitting to the rear spine fold but the covers remain attached. Two small penned letters to the lower front flap. The large photographic portrait of the 'editor', gives the game away as to the real identity of the author of this title. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. A Cubist portrait frontispiece of 'the author' by G.E.Calthrop. A very nice copy of Coward's second collection of twenty two poems which were pseudonymous 'Edith Sitwell' pastiches. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First edition. Edited by Noel Coward. Introduction by Gaspard Pustontin. Small octavo. Quarter cloth and decorated paper over boards with printed paper label. Small hole in front board and first few leaves (presumably shot by an irate critic), some edgewear and rubbing, a good copy lacking the presumed dust jacket. Coward's second poetry collection, a lampoon of Edith Sitwell. Inscribed by Coward: "For Miss M. Robson, from the soul of Hernia Whittlebot 1925.".

FIRST EDITION, frontispiece 'portrait' by G.E. Calthrop, light foxing to prelims, pp. 45, crown 8vo, original binding of patterned paper boards, printed label to upper board, light rubbing at extremities, a little spotting to edges and faint partial browning to free endpapers, dustjacket, very good. Noel Coward having fun with, or rather at, Edith Sitwell: 'Round - oblong - like jam -/ Terse as virulent hermaphrodites', and more in that vein. The scarce dustjacket, which provides a large photographic portrait of the 'editor', gives away the somewhat thin game. A superb copy, the best we have seen.