A Light Car Odyssey by R.W.H Davies with his signed AA card first edition 1932
London: India Publications Ltd (1932)
8vo; in the publisher’s oatmeal cloth, the upper board has an image of the Taj Mahal tipped on card to the front along with the title, the title is also stamped in blue to the spine; with the scarce dust wrapper, in beige with dark blue lettering, and a may showing the author’s journey in a lighter blue in the background, on the lower panel is a sketch map of the stops the author went to and a sign displaying the miles he undertook to complete it; 176pp; complete with 50 photograph illustrations and 4 maps; the book is in immaculate condition with very little wear to speak of, the jacket has loss to the spine ends and a moderate tear of about 2 inches to the bottom left of the upper panel, there is edge wear and it has been price clipped; overall it is an almost fine book, with an about very good jacket.
[WITH] an A6 membership card for the AA of the author R.W.H Davies, the membership card is from 1921 and it looks like he was member number 252, inside the card is a picture of a young Davies that has been tipped in and then signed underneath by him, opposite are details of his motorcycle (a Zenith) and registration details, it is a very scarce item indeed.
Davies held his AA membership in 1921, and he looked distinctly middle aged, with fine facial furniture. He gave his residence as Pembroke College, at Oxford University, most likely as an employee. Eleven years later, we find him retiring from the Indian Civil Service, in Bombay and rather than take a more conventional route home back to Kemerton, in Gloucester, he decides to, with his man Abdul Kader assisting him along the way, set off to travel 9373 miles in his MG Astor. This book charts his journey, and he is keen to play down any talk of glamour or of fantastical tales. Instead, this is a practical expose on how he did it, with costs broken down and a detailed account of his tribulations. It is clear from his account, that the road infrastructure was in large parts, diabolical, and his Astor needed repairs on several occasions, it was also trapped in rubble at one point too. A remarkable journey, and this is a scarce book due to it having its dust wrapper and Davies’ signed AA card.