About this Item
McCULLOUGH, Donald. Question Mark: A Journey Round the World.
London: Paul Elek, 1949.
First edition, first impression, presentation copy from Donald and Nan McCullough to Lord and Lady Portal.
Octavo. Original blue cloth, gilt aircraft device to upper board, gilt titles to spine, illustrated throughout by Fougasse, folding route map, original yellow pictorial dust jacket, priced 7/6 net to the front flap. 164 pp. Presentation inscription to the front free endpaper: ?Peter - Joan, with love from Nan and Donald McCullough. Park House, June 1952.? ?Peter? was the familiar name of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Portal, and Joan was his wife, Lady Joan Portal.
A charming and highly personal presentation copy of McCullough?s round-the-world travel book, written after his journey to Japan for the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces. Donald McCullough was already one of Britain?s best-known broadcasting voices as the original question-master of the BBC?s wartime Brains Trust, a programme that made him a familiar figure to wartime listeners. The inscription, from Donald and Nan McCullough to ?Peter - Joan,? gives this copy a warm private association with the Portal household.
The subject matter is especially apt. McCullough?s journey takes him through Ceylon, Karachi, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Honolulu and America, with chapters including ?Atomic Economy,? ?Problems of Victory,? ?Point of No Return? and ?Freedom from Work.? Lord Portal?s own wartime and post-war career was deeply bound up with air power and the atomic age: he served as Chief of the Air Staff during the Second World War and later as Controller of Production, Atomic Energy. This is therefore not merely a social presentation copy, but one whose themes of global air travel, post-war Japan and atomic modernity touch closely on Portal?s world.
Illustrations are by Fougasse, the pen-name of Cyril Kenneth Bird, celebrated Punch artist and creator of the famous wartime ?Careless Talk Costs Lives? poster campaign. His humorous drawings give the book much of its period charm.
Condition: very good in a good to very good dust jacket. Cloth bright, spine gently faded, gilt still present, contents clean and fresh. Jacket bright and attractive, with some rubbing, creasing, small chips and short tears to the extremities, especially at the spine head and corners, but retaining strong colour and presenting well.
Seller Inventory # ABE-1777544865732
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