Very scarce with the Bip Pares wrapper

Leigh, Margaret ~ My Kingdom For A Horse : The Story Of A Journey From The Cornish Moors To The Scottish Border

Macmillan & Co. Ltd., London : 1939

The First UK printing published by Macmillan & Co. Ltd., London in 1939. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition. Original publisher's green cloth with gilt titling to the spine. Mild pushing to the spine tips. Light toning and spotting to the text-block. Previous owner's penned name to the second blank end-paper. A handful of spotting but otherwise internally clean. Striking coloured end-paper designs by Bip Pares. The scarce WRAPPER is complete and in Very Good condition. Some loss, rubbing and small tears at the spine ends and corners. A little dustiness, rubbing and toning to the spine. A 5 cm closed tear to the rear spine fold and upper edge of the rear panel (repaired to the verso). Some age related markings. The BIp Pares wrapper design still remains striking in the removable Brodart archival cover. 'Complimentary Copy. Not for sale' type perforated to the lower half-title page. The author was a cousin of fellow author Dorothy L. Sayers. 'In the autumn of 1939 a young English woman faced a difficult choice. Margaret Leigh had just sold her farm in Cornwall and wanted to return to her ancestral home in the Highlands of Scotland. Yet how to get there? The obvious choice would have included either a train or automobile. However Leigh had a strong streak of adventure running through her. She opted for that altar of travel, the saddle, dismissing those nay-sayers who said the deed couldn't be done in such a modern age. What followed can only be described as one of the most delightful equestrian journeys of the early twentieth century, neither too hot, nor too cold, not too long, nor too short. It was in fact, just right! Though England was rushing headlong into the disaster of the Second World War, Leigh and her mare Ladybird, passed through the countryside unscathed, observing the twilight of a rural lifestyle that had lasted for centuries' ( Blurb : Long Riders Guild Press 2001). The book was not to be reprinted until 2001 when the Long Riders Guild Press reissued it. A scarce title more-so with the Bip Pares wrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good++
JACKET: Very Good