Uncle Fred in the Springtime. WODEHOUSE, P. G.

First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author to his biographer and bibliographer, David A. Jasen, "To David from Plum, P. G. Wodehouse, 27 May 1964", to the front free endpaper. 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). The novel was first printed in the Saturday Evening Post from 22 April to 27 May 1939, and preceded the UK edition by a week. A contemporary review declared that "What Zeus is to the Olympians, so is Uncle Fred. to the members of the Wodehouse mythology" (Truth, p. 271). The titular character first appears in "Uncle Fred Flits By" (Young Men in Spats, 1936). Jasen 60; McIlvaine A61a. Truth, 1 September 1939. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine blocked and decorated in brown, top edge green, others untrimmed. With dust jacket. Bookseller's ticket (with slight wear) to rear pastedown. Spine ends bumped, minor rubbing and wear to edges; jacket somewhat creased and chipped, front flap detached, a couple of tape reinforcements on verso, faint splash mark to foot of rear panel, front flap clipped, price present on rear flap: a very good copy in poor jacket.