WAUGH, Evelyn.

£2,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Basil Seal Rides Again or The Rake's Regress. First edition, first impression, one of 750 numbered copies, this an out-of-series presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the limitation leaf to Robert Laycock and his wife Angela: "for Bob with love to Angie from Evelyn", and with Laycock's bookplate to the front pastedown.Robert Laycock (1907-1968) was a British army officer most remembered for his service with the British Commandos during the Second World War. "An ideal officer for special service employment, Laycock was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and early in 1941 he sailed for the Middle East in command of 'Layforce', an enlarged battalion of five commandos. The little force carried out several minor but hazardous tasks with varying success until it was allotted the daunting mission of rearguard action in the British defence of Crete. Throughout this action (May-June 1941) Laycock's personal assistant was Captain Evelyn Waugh. The experience of the British disaster in Crete is reflected in Waugh's novel Officers and Gentlemen (1955). Laycock and Waugh were in the last British ship to leave the island" (ODNB).

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