A Guide to the Classics or How to Pick the Derby Winner. London: Faber and Faber Ltd. [1936].

Small 8vo: 136 pp., occasional pencilled notes, some spotting mainly to first and last few leaves. Original brown cloth, gilt lettering to spine, a little rubbed. First edition. Rare. 'In this book we propose to review again the problem involved in picking the winner of the Derby and to reconsider the principles upon which this problem may at the present time be solved successfully. . The Derby winner cannot be picked often without the use of intelligence, and we can provide no ready-made substitute for an intelligent consideration of the race and the field. Nevertheless, we do not suggest that our way of dealing with the subject is scientific. Our method is that of commonsense .' - from the introduction. 'Perhaps too it called for some courage to publish in 1936 a book written jointly with a colleague, Guy Griffith, entitled A Guide to the Classics or How to Pick a Derby Winner. Though written with dry urbanity, this was a serious effort to offer a brief and businesslike account of the rational principles upon which we believe a winning selection may be based. Fear of raised eyebrows did not deter Oakeshott from agreeing to a second edition [entitled 'A New Guide to the Derby'] of this light-hearted work in 1947.' From the obituary by Nevil Johnson. Oakeshott (1901-1990), Professor of Political Science, was educated at and was later a fellow at Cambridge, was Professor at the LSE from 1951-68, also a member of the Fabian Society; he published numerous books and articles, and this work is his only non-academic publication.…