HEYGATE, John.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Motor Tramp. First edition, presentation copy from the author to Henry Williamson, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "From a Magnette to its famous older cousin. In memory of many rushes together through Devon - my own damnfool drivers would never let us 90 - well, Silver Eagle, good horizon-eating! Magnette 1935".The "Magnette" of Heygate's inscription refers to his car, the six-cylinder MG F-type Magna (obviously not the later MG Magnette, produced from 1953 to 1968). The Magnette's "older cousin" was Williamson's Silver Eagle, a typically stylish Alvis. Heygate's account of a motor tour across Europe is dominated by his sojourn in Nazi Germany. In September 1935 Williamson accepted an invitation from Heygate to join him in Berlin, the two men going on to attend the Nuremberg Rally. Williamson reviewed the book for John O'London's Weekly, writing that it is "possibly the first time a car has been the heroine of a story that is both realistic and romantic … How 'T.E.' [Lawrence], with his mind like a cut diamond, would have enjoyed reading Motor Tramp"."John Heygate (1903-1976) had made himself known to HW soon after (and no doubt because of) the award of the Hawthornden Prize for Tarka the Otter in June 1928. The two men immediately became firm friends, which lasted throughout their lives" (Henry Williamson Society). Heygate wrote a number of novels, Williamson contributing an introduction to the American edition of Decent Fellows (1931).

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.