First edition, first impression. Inscribed (but not signed) by the author on the front free endpaper, 'Inscribed (which means - hooray! - that this is a bought copy) to Denis Preston on the occasion of a pleasing experience in a studio, from the Author, 1952'. 346pp. Deep blue publisher's cloth-covered boards, silver-stamped lettering on the spine. Cloth is a little worn and marked, gently rubbed at corners and spine ends. Text block edges and endpapers quite heavily spotted and soiled, with some faint and occasional spotting throughout.
Musician, composer, critic and broadcaster, Spike Hughes (1908-1987) has been called Britain's first jazz composer and was a pioneer of opera for television. The first volume of his autobiography was published with the title Opening Bars.
