Tom Merry’s Annual (Signed and Inscribed)

[1949] 290pp. Colour plate frontispiece (by Abbey) & further line drawings in text. Grey card boards with red lettering and decoration (generally clean with a little shelf wear on edges). Internally neat, clean bright and tight barring mild toning and spotting on endpapers. Mild spotting to text block edges. Signed and inscribed by Frank Richards to Susan Mary Kaye on front free endpaper. A small collection of newspaper articles dating from early 1950s relating to Billy Bunter and Frank Richards laid in at rear. In its original pictorial dust jacket also by Abbey (lightly bumped at edges, a few small nicks, mark on spine, spine ends a little compressed). Dust jacket now protected in archival quality mylar wrapper which prolongs the life of the paper, keeps it clean and protects it from damage. It is not adhered to the book or to the dust jacket. This is the first post-war Tom Merry Annual; it reintroduces some of Richards’s old favourites – Tom Merry and Co, Jimmy Silver and his chums at Rockwood School, the old gang from Carcroft, and the old fat friend, Turkey Tuck. Also new features including articles on motor racing, speedway, football and cricket and hobby features on stamp collecting and how to make a radio set etc. Hard to find volume, rare with signature. 4to 0