Three Schoolboys [Scott, Peter; Dilke, Michael; Brereton, John] — Adventures among Birds

Privately published, printed by Knapp, Drewett & Sons Oundle [8], 80, numerous b/w illustrations. . HB. Small 4to (275x220mm), orig. cloth-backed, paper-covered boards, printed title label to front board. Vg. Signed by all three authors. Presentation copy from Dilke to his mother 'Mumsk, with love from Miksk, Christmas 1926'.. Limited edition of 525 copies, with the first 25 specially bound and numbered, this volume being No. 3. Rare. Produced while Peter Scott was still at Oundle School, the book contains some of his earliest published illustrations. With illustrations by Scott, text by Dilke, and Brereton arranging the publication, the book covers various birds and the boys' adventures finding them. In Scott's autobigraphy, <i>The Eye of the Wind</i> (1961, p. 57), he recalls that the book was privately published under the name 'Three Schoolboys', so that the book's sponsors could not be accused of exploiting Scott's connection to the Antarctic..