The Ploughman Homeward Plods B.B. (D Watkins-Pitchford) 1st + original artwork

London: Dent (1960). First edition. 8vo., original green cloth boards, decorated with gilt lettering to the spine, with the original dust jacket; pp. [iv] 5-206; A very good copy. The jacket hasn't been price clipped. There is wear to the top of the spine and this has been repaired with tape to the reverse of the jacket. The lower edge has a small tear and the remnants of brown tape on the reverse also. Otherwise a clean copy.  
 
The book comes with the original artwork illustrated by B.B. (Denys Watkins-Pitchford). B.B. has created the illustration for the front cover of the book in watercolour and has signed his name to the bottom right of the board. He has glued the title of the book to the top of the board. There are three scuff marks in the middle, which may have been caused by the illustrator gluing the author's name on the board as well, as this is the exact place on the jacket where Fred Kitchen's name sits. The board measures 23x15 centimeters. 
 
Fred Kitchen spent a life time working on a farm and came from a family of farmers and field labourers. He is best known for his debut novel Brother to the Ox (1939). This novel has a similar theme about Richard and Mary Broome and their lives as agricultural workers. It is though the B.B. illustrated dust wrapper design that stands out with this first edition, of a ploughman working the field. The book is accompanied by the original artwork, a watercolour on board signed by B.B. to the corner.