Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats : Inscribed By The Author : Presentation Copy To One Of The Book’s Dedicatees by Eliot, T.S

The First UK printing of this illustrated edition published by Faber and Faber, London in 1940. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition. Light pushing at the spine ends with some spotting to the blank end-papers. Light toning to the text-block with some light spotting to the outer page edges in places. The WRAPPER is complete and is in Very Good++ condition. A little loss at the spine ends and corners. Some toning to the spine with a faint unobtrusive splash mark to the upper right front corner. Some slight age related markings and a 6cm closed tear to the lower front spine fold. The wrapper remains very attractive in the removable Brodart archival cover. The book has been inscribed by the author to the upper front blank end-paper : 'To the Tandy Fambly from O.P.' 'O.P' being the abbreviation for 'Old Possum', Eliot's pseudonym. 'The 'Fambly' was a particular spelling which Eliot used with the Tandys. See Ricks & McCue's 'The Poems of TS Eliot Vol II', where it is recorded as a variant spelling in line 7 of The Old Gumbie Cat (and where, indeed, the bisyllabic 'fambly's' would be more successful than the printed trisyllabic 'family's': 7 variant fambly: jokey spelling frequent in Eliot's letters to the Tandys)'. (Paul Keers, Chair, T.S. Eliot Society : Personal communication). The Tandy family were very close friends with Eliot who trialled the poems on the children. In fact, one of the children Alison Tandy, is one of the book's dedicatees mentioned in the Preface. Geoffrey Tandy was a respected marine biologist and latterly broadcaster, who wrote a 'Broadcasting Chronicle' for the literary magazine 'The Criterion', which Eliot had created and edited. Tandy was also the first person to broadcast Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats in 1937. The book was first published in 1939 and was quickly republished the following year in this format with the striking illustrations by the well known cartoonist and illustrator Nicolas Bentley. 'Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats' served as the basis for the hugely successful musical 'Cats' by Andrew Lloyd Webber. A significant presentation copy of this key Eliot title to one of the books' dedicatees. Extremely scarce with such attributes. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.