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VAUGHAN**, ADRIAN: : SIGNALMAN'S MORNING

LONDON.JOHN MURRAY (PUBLISHERS) LTD.,1984.

ISBN 0719538270.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,3rd reprint.[First published 1981,reprinted same year,then again in 1982 and this edn,in 1984 - the 3rd reprint.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and unclipped dw/dj - absence of publisher's price - so possibly an export edn.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy,montaged b/w photographic illustrated dw/dj,back+front with white,black-outlined yellow lettering to front, lightly faded yellow letters to spine,and non-faded letters to rear panel; with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - appears unread,other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean and unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain green cloth boards,with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,and immaculate, repeated b/w regional map illustrated sets of endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,3rd reprint,2-177pp [paginated] includes 14 chapters with 12pp contemporary b/w autobiographical,biographical and scenic photographs in 1 block,between pp84/5,appendices (1-4) and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title with blank verso,title page,a dedication with an epigram to verso (The Rubaiyat,Omar Khayyam,trans.Edward Fitzgerald,I,vii), contents list/table with blank verso, illustrations list/table and a Prologue. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation. Adrian Vaughan comes of a railway family and has steam trains in the blood.He spent much of his sparettime as a boy hanging around on Reading station watching engines and coaxing drivers to give him lifts,but his main fascination was the world of the signalmen, perched high in their commanding positions and responsible entirely for the safe working of the track. It was only a matter of time before he was working out his apprenticeship as a porter at Challow in Berkshire and finding to his delight that the age of steam had remained more or less unchanged for a hundred years. In this brillaintly evocative book he captures the personalitiess of the last days of steam on Brunel's line,and all the mysteries of the system; he has a gift for recorded conversation that brings the long evenings in the signal boxes to life,when news was passed up and down the line and many a story told of days gone by. Parallel with studying the language and practice of signals he was taking every opportunity of learning to fire and drive, so that when he went down to Bristol to pass his exams and found himself alone at last in charge of Uffington Box it was with a broad understanding of how the railway worked in all its aspects.He was a signalman for fourteen years and an amateur footplateman for six.His story is gripping and leaves you hungry for the second volume,'Signalman's Twilight' - see my book ID rja1006622 for an example. He produced his first book on his beloved railway in 1971 and has produced over thirty books to date. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,3rd reprint.
Not SIGNED.

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