Description
Inscribed by Queen Mary of Teck, to the head gardener at Windsor Castle, the first edition of Thames Triumphant by Sydney R. Jones.
Octavo, vi, 7-272pp. Navy blue cloth, title in gilt on spine. Top edge dyed blue. Stated “First Published, December 1943” on copyright page. Solid text block, light wear to corners, foxed edges, a very good example. In a price-clipped dust jacket, faint sunning to spine, light wear to edges, short closed tear to rear panel. Inscribed “For Mr. Simpson from Mary R. / Christmas 1945” on the half title.
George Simpson worked as the King’s head gardener at Windsor Castle throughout the 1940s and 50s. Both Queen Mary and The Queen Mother were fond of Simpson. In a 1949 letter to her daughter, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother writes “I am feeling quite gaga with Xmas preparations! On Sunday we did all the Royal Lodge servants… then went to Windsor… + [George] Simpson etc.” Simpson was well respected in the field of gardening, serving as a judge in the Olympia Flower Show in 1950. Queen Mary of Teck (1867-1953) was the wife of King George V and Queen of the United Kingdom until 1936. She was the mother of King Edward VIII, King George VI, and the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. She died one year into the reign of granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
