H.E. Bates – The Larkin Family Saga (Comprising: The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, Oh! To Be in England, A Little of What You Fancy) – First Edition Collection

Description

First editions, first printings of The Larkin Saga by H.E. Bates, published by Michael Joseph in London, between 1958 and 1970. This is a very good (or better) set. Although originally intended as a trilogy, Bates went on to write two more Larkin family novels, which are included in this set. The dust wrappers, the first of which are illustrated by Broom Lynne, and the later two by John Alcorn and Oliver Elms, are all bright and presentable. The first title has been price clipped and the others show their original net prices. Each title has some slight separation at the spine tips, with some additional crumpling and creasing on the later two titles. The later two titles are with previous owners ink, with one having an address stamp and the other, a squiggle mark. The second, fourth and fifth titles are toned and mildly foxed on the text blocks, with some light internal toning also present. The red, blue, green publishers cloth boards are without notable chips and marks. Overall, this is a very good (or better) set.

H.E. was fascinated by a junkyard, next to a beautiful bluebell wood, not far from his home in Kent. One summer evening he and Madge stopped at a village shop next to a ramshackle lorry that had recently been painted a violent electric blue. Minutes later a large family came out of the shop, full of laughter, eating ice creams and crisps, and piled into the truck; they were exactly the inspiration H.E. needed for his junk yard. The next day he began writing The Darling Buds of May in, as he described it later, ‘a fever of excitement and laughter’. The Larkin family appeared in the ITV adaptation, ‘The Darling Buds of May’, over three series between 1991 and 1993 (starring David Jason, Pam Ferris, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Philip Franks).