H. E. Bates — My Uncle Silas

London, Jonathan Cape, 1939. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of Bates" beloved collection of semi-autobiographical rural tales, following the enigmatic Uncle Silas, inscribed by the author to the front free endpaper. In the publisher"s original green cloth binding.Complete with the original dust wrapper, inner corners of flaps trimmed but retaining the original price. Forty-eight drawings after Edward Ardizzone, including a frontispiece and title page vignette. Collated, complete. A collection of semi-autobiographical rural tales, following the larger-than-life Uncle Silas through comic and often poignant episodes of English country life.H. E. Bates (1905-1974) was a prolific English author, best known for his evocations of the countryside and for works such as The Darling Buds of May. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, very smart. Slight rubbing and bumping to extremities. One or two spots to boards. Author's inscription to front free endpaper. Light scattered spotting to endpapers. Dust wrapper, generally smart. Slight edge wear to extremities resulting in the odd small chip, crease, and closed tear, more so to head and tail of spine. Slight discoloration to spine and perimeters. Light soiling with one of two handling marks. Spot of damp staining towards front joint. Unclipped, with flap corners slightly trimmed. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean with one or two light spots to fore edge. Near Fine . Ill.: Edward Ardizzone. Near Fine/Very Good.