Summoned by Bells Signed and Doodled by John Betjeman first edition 1960

London: John Murray, 1960
 
Large 8vo., green cloth decorated in blind with repeating ‘Bell’ motif to boards; lined and titled in gilt vertically along spine; with repeat endpapers duplicating the cover; cream dustwrapper printed in red and black (16s net); with decorative title and chapter headings throughout by Michael Tree; pp. [x], 3-111, [i]; a near-fine copy, light spotted to the upper edge and mildly compressed at spine ends; in the like wrapper which has a couple of very light creases to the spine ends, and one thin strip of residue to the lower flap.  
 
First edition. Inscribed and dated by Betjeman in the year of publication “Miss Iris Langley gratefully from John Betjeman Winton 1960”, inside a doodle of a stained glass window. The recipient is Iris Langley, who had first become acquainted with the Betjemans while she was manageress at King Alfred's Kitchen in Wantage. It is likely that Betjeman signed the book during one of these visits, with ‘Winton’ miswritten for ‘Wantage’. The pair maintained a close and affectionate friendship, with Langley accompanying the writer to his CBE ceremony at Buckingham palace in 1960, the same year that Summoned by Bells was published.
 
Written in blank verse, Summoned By Bells is an autobiographical work, which explores through a series of recollections the author’s early life growing up in Edwardian Highgate, London, through to his premature departure from Magdalen College, Oxford. Beginning with his first memories of nursery, and his understanding of his family’s social position, the recurrent theme of bells proliferates the text: “I heard the church bells hollowing out the sky,/ Deep beyond deep, like never-ending stars,/And turned to Archibald, my safe old bear…”. Later, he explores his childhood holidays in Cornwall: “The time was tea-time, calm free-wheeling time,/ When from slashed tree-tops in the combe below/ I heard a bell-note floating to the sun…” and ends with his less-than enthusiastic musings about his time at University: “Harsh hand-bells harried me from sleep/For thirty pounds a term and keep”. 
 
Betjeman’s time at University was a difficult one, mostly due to the tense relationship which developed between him and his tutor, C. S. Lewis. It was a fraught pairing which haunted Betjeman for the rest of his life. Lewis, who referred to Betjeman in one diary entry as an ‘idle prig’, gave his student nothing more than an ignominious Pass degree and, when the poet wrote to his tutor accusing him of sabotaging his job prospects, Lewis replied: “I have never heard you speak of a serious subject without a snigger. It would ... be odd if you expected to find gushing fountains of emotional sympathy flowing from me whenever you chose to change the tune. You can't have it both ways.” Summoned by Bells ends on this note.  
 
A wonderful copy, rare with these attributes.