Motor Days in England / A Record of a Journey Through Picturesque Southern England with Historical and Literary Observations by the Way (INSCRIBED)

Dillon, John M., Editor of 'Marshall's Constitutional Decisions'

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons / The Knickerbocker Press, New York, 1908

About this Item

This book is tight enough -- and retains enough of its top-edge gilding and charming gilt landscape device (Magdalen College and Tower, Oxford) to front board -- to grade "very good," but we must reduce our grade to "good" thanks to the fact that a child (we certainly hope it was a child) has scribbled the blank endpapers (only) with crayon. Red crayon mark to FFE is only 1 X 2 inches, but the rear endpapers got a really good going-over, in black -- see our fifth scan. (As wax crayon rests ON the paper, rather than soaking INTO the paper, it's widely reported the stuff can be removed with the careful application of a hot iron over some waxed paper, but we have not attempted.) Additionally, a shallow dampstain (impinging no text) shows to bottoms of the final 30-or-so pages. Dated "Aug. 1908" and inscribed in an elegant hand of the era to the SECOND (crayon-free) blank page: "To Hon. W.P. Dillard / with the compliments of the Author / 'Overleigh' Far Hills, N.J." Thus inscribed but not actually signed. (A Judge W.P. Dillard held office in Fort Scott, Kansas, around this time.) ("Overleigh" developed when Dillon, a prominent attorney, decided to build an estate similar to those he had seen in Europe, combining English, French and Italian styles. Author Dillon purchased a nine-room farmhouse near Far Hills in 1894. Over a 10-year period the farmhouse was transformed into a magnificent estate complete with elaborate mantelpieces, stained glass windows and silk brocade-covered walls. Dillon was also an avid horticulturalist, creating English-style gardens and parklands.) 1908 date to title page here matches copyright date; no later dates or printings mentioned. The many illustrations here are tipped-in glossy B&W plates, most landscape photographs but a few based on the author's quite competent pencil sketches. The three-color fold-out route map remains firmly attached, tracing a route which extended from Brighton and Eastbourne in the Southeast, through Henley and Oxford north to Kenilworth Castle near Coventry, southwest through the Vale of the White Horse to Glastonbury, Taunton, and Lynmouth. This book is mostly an account of sites and sightseeing, the author's version of "roughing it" having consisted of travel by hired Daimler automobiles driven by English chauffeurs with stops at various rustic inns, interrupted as necessary by falling back on the use of the railroads. Early 20th Century travel -- Banbury, Blenheim, Cleve Abbey, Nether Stowey, Hurstmonceux Castle, Cliveden, Stoke Poges, Hampton Court, Stoneleigh Abbey, Charlecote Hall, Warwick Castle, Stratford-on-Avon, etc. 283 pp. including index. Reduced from $105.

Seller Inventory # 006398

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Motor Days in England / A Record of a Journey Through Picturesque Southern England with Historical and Literary Observations by the Way (INSCRIBED)
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons / The Knickerbocker Press, New York
• Publication Date: 1908
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: With map and 64 illustrations
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)