Derby Day: A Comic Opera in Three Acts (First Edition with Unique Author ALS Letter & Custom Bookplate)

First Edition. First Published. Hardcover. Bound in the publisher's original striking blue cloth with black title lettering to the front board and spine. Octavo. 126pp. A brilliant example of interwar British theatrical history, containing the complete libretto for Herbert's celebrated comic opera. This copy does not retain its original dust jacket. Exceptional Association Provenance: This copy originates directly from the personal library of the Vorticist painter Edward Wadsworth and his wife Fanny. The front pastedown features the highly distinct, decorative custom Celtic-knot woodcut bookplate of their daughter, Barbara Wadsworth ("Ex Libris Barbara Wadsworth"). Tucked loosely inside the volume is an intimate, two-sided Autograph Letter Signed (Gwen) written in fountain pen on the family's official embossed stationery from 12 Hammersmith Terrace, W.6. An original two-page handwritten personal letter from Gwen Herbert, wife of the celebrated British author, playwright and politician A. P. Herbert, addressed to Fanny Wadsworth. Condition: Good vintage condition overall. The original blue cloth boards show typical light age-related surface marking, minor spine sunning, and light bumping to the extremities. The text block is internally clean, bright, and firmly bound. The loose autograph letter is in excellent condition with crisp folds and perfectly legible handwriting. The custom bookplate is beautifully preserved and clean.…