The Battle Book of Ypres.

London: John Murray,, 1927. First edition, first impression, in the notably scarce dust jacket, the artwork of which is by E. H. Shepherd, who served with the Royal Artillery at the Somme, Arras and Ypres. During the First World War the Ypres salient "saw more concentrated fighting, more blood spilt, drew in more soldiers" than any other sector occupied by the British Army (Connelly & Goebel, p. 144). "This book was published by the Ypres League immediately after the consecration of the Menin Gate Memorial to the memory of the unknown dead who fell in the Ypres salient. There are contributions from representatives of all arms, and the book, simple as it is, is itself a memorial to the spirit of the long defence of Ypres" (Falls). The author, Beatrix Brice, was one of the moving forces behind the establishment of the Ypres League, alongside the Canadian officer and journalist Beckles Wilson, whom she is described as matching in "passion for Ypres, energy, and drive. During the conflict Brice had served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nursing wounded soldiers whilst also composing poetry, the most famous of which was her 1916 paean to the original BEF soldiers who fought at Mons and First Ypres, 'To the Vanguard', published in The Times" (ibid.). "Daddy" Plumer, who contributed the foreword, took over command of the Ypres sector in 1915 and was responsible for the meticulously planned and relatively bloodless capture of the Messines Ridge in 1917. Octavo. Original blue cloth, gilt lettered spine and front cover, pictorial lion stamp gilt to latter. With dust jacket. With half-tone frontispiece from a drawing by E. H. Shepherd, 2 plates from paintings by C. R. W. Nevinson (one colour), folding map of the Ypres salient. Uncompleted full-page bookplate on front free endpaper, intended for a soldier who had served at Ypres. Spine ends and corners rubbed, gilt of spine oxidised, free endpapers toned, jacket a little soiled and torn at head of spine with some loss of lettering, other chips, nicks and tears, old tape repairs on verso. A very good copy in a presentable example of the highly elusive jacket. Falls, pp. 13-14.