Handle with Care. A Book of Prison Camp Sketches drawn & written in Prison Camps in Germany
[Cookham], The Authors, 1946.
Oblong quarto, 107 pages with numerous illustrations.
Grey cloth lettered in red on the front cover; cloth a little unevenly sunned and lightly foxed; foot of the spine lightly bumped throughout; a very good copy.
The two-page introduction by the authors (dated 'Cookham, 1946') outlines the chequered history of the book, not least the difficulties in getting it printed on their return from captivity. We 'spent two months searching a somewhat changed England for a publisher with enough good paper for the Book. Having discovered one, we found that the printing trade was so short of man-power, particularly block-makers and book-binders, that our book had to take its turn in a long queue, and that our original estimate of the time required to produce it was far too optimistic. We therefore apologise for the long delay, and hope that you will receive your copy with as much pleasure as we see the last of it. We should like to take this opportunity of apologising to the many subscribers who sent messages of goodwill, for not replying to them'. An online search brought up further interesting information: all other copies we found for sale were bound in blue cloth with red lettering; one of them was still in its original packaging from the printer (P.J. Press, 34 Fort Road, Middlesex); and a facsimile edition was published in 2005, variously signed by one or more former prisoners of war.
Item #146445
Price (AUD):
$250.00