The Small Bachelor. WODEHOUSE, P. G.

First US edition, presentation copy, inscribed to the author's biographer and bibliographer, David A. Jasen, "To David all the best from Plum, P. G. Wodehouse", on the title page. The Small Batchelor was based on the Kern-Bolton-Wodehouse musical Oh Lady! Lady!, which premiered in Albany, New York on 7 January 1918. David A. Jasen (1937-2022), ragtime scholar, performer, and a leading Wodehouse authority, shared a passion for music with the prolific humourist who was also famed during his lifetime as a musical lyricist. Jasen acknowledged that only Wodehouse's close friends and family knew him as "Plum", and his personal bond with the author was immortalized when Jasen became the dedicatee of Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963). This copy is from the first issue, having the publisher's monogram on the copyright page. Jasen 38a; McIlvaine A37b. Octavo. Original orange cloth, spine and front cover lettered in brown. Ticket of Union News on front pastedown. Toning to spine, ends and corners slightly worn, light soiling to cloth. A very good copy.