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; light stain/surface abrasion to lower corner of both boards. Vg. Inscribed by Peter Scott to wildlife artist, Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935), "To A. Thorburn From P.S." In his autobiography <i>The Eye of the Wind</i> (1961), Scott writes that in around 1930 (several years after his schoolboy book was published), 'Old Archbald Thorburn, who painted the feathers of birds with exquisite truth, had come to Leinster Corner at the age of eighty to criticise my drawings of birds and deer. His advice had been wise and useful at the time, but it was not his road that I now wanted to extend into the jungle.'. Limited edition of 525 copies, with the first 125 copies numbered; this copy, No. 34. 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..