Britain by Carr: Signed (2 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. Signed by Carr. Entomologist's Gazette (1984) Vol. 35. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Dust Jacket. On offer is the "Patchwork Book" of Richard Carr-Gomm (1928-2008) , a massive, approximately 300-page volume begun in September 1946 and maintained through 1954. It combines Carr-Gomm's extensive handwritten commonplace book content with his meticulously kept military, intellectual, spiritual, social and family archive. This book is an insider archive of mid-century British military, political, royal, cultural and philanthropic life. Its approximately 300 pages bring together annotated intelligence bulletins and restricted operational papers from Mandate Palestine; Coldstream Guards and Household Brigade records; a regimental copy of a telegram from Princess Elizabeth; parliamentary correspondence from Richard Law MP; a signed letter from Sir Malcolm Sargent; and documents connecting Carr-Gomm with his family's influential charitable work at Lady Gomm House. What makes the volume especially revealing is Carr-Gomm's active engagement with this material. In his own hand, Carr-Gomm questions the accuracy of official intelligence and comments upon security and morale. Elsewhere, the papers show how the Carr-Gomm family's political connections could carry a serving officer's grievance from Palestine to the floor of the House of Commons. The scrapbook provides a remarkably personal view from inside the interconnected world of the Guards, Parliament, the monarchy, London society and upper-class philanthropy. Carr-Gomm wrote a substantial part of the volume himself, organized its contents, supplied headings and commentary, created an extensive index, made drawings and diagrams, and selected and mounted the documents, photographs, letters, invitations and printed material that he wished to preserve. The result is a unique record of Carr-Gomm's mind and milieu during the decisive years immediately preceding his establishment of the first Abbeyfield house. The volume bears Carr-Gomm's ownership inscription, the date "Started September 1946."Part 1: The Commonplace BookThe first 144 pages form a carefully constructed manuscript commonplace book, internally indexed by Carr-Gomm. Its principal indexed divisions include "Prayers, " "Friends, " "Biographies" and "Sayings. "Carr-Gomm copied and considered passages from Scripture, Shakespeare, Blake, Wordsworth and other writers, placing them alongside prayers, aphorisms, personal observations, memories, military ideas and reflections upon friendship, courage, confidence, intimacy, service and the proper conduct of life. Some entries are transcriptions, but the importance of the manuscript lies in Carr-Gomm's selection, arrangement and annotation of them, and in the way copied texts are interspersed with his own comments, recollections and diagrams. One sequence includes lines from Shakespeare's Henry V beside hand-drawn military and tactical diagrams. Elsewhere he records a traditional Bedouin prayer asking that God "guard our children and protect our weaker friends. "The commonplace portion of the book reveals Carr-Gomm actively forming a personal philosophy by gathering ideas, testing them against his military experience, and returning to questions of fellowship, responsibility and service. Part 2: Military Scrapbook on Mandate Palestine and the Coldstream GuardsA major portion of the archive concerns Carr-Gomm's service in Palestine with the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, during the final and increasingly dangerous period of the British Mandate. Some of the vast Palestine material includes: A large named company photograph of No. 2 Company, 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards, identifying "Capt. R. C. Carr-Gomm"A 1947 battalion Christmas card inscribed "with much love from Richard"Military passes and service documentsMaps, company plans and operational papersReports concerning morale and securityIntelligence material carrying Carr-Gomm's handwritten comments and questionsMilitary and archaeological ephemera relating to Sabratha and [Abe Word Count reached, Contact seller for FULL LISTING].…