The Darling Buds of May [with] A Breath of French Air [with] When the Green Woods Laugh [with] Oh! To Be In England [with] A Little of What You Fancy. THE LARKINS NOVELS COMPLETE IN UNCLIPPED DUSTWRAPPERS

Michael Joseph,, [1958-70]. 5 vols., 8vo., First Edition, some faint offsetting from fold-ins to free endpapers, one volume with tiny signature on title; cloth (red/blue/green/blue/green respectively), gilt backs, tops lightly dust-soiled else a very good, bright, clean set in unclipped, very lightly chafed dustwrapper. Originally conceived by Bates as a trilogy, the Larkins ultimately became a sequence of five novels. Here is the complete series featuring the immortal family whose adventures are rooted firmly in the classic English tradition of bucolic humour. The sequence comprises: The Darling Buds of May (1958); A Breath of French Air (1959); When the Green Woods Laugh (1960); Oh! To be in England (1963); A Little of What you Fancy (1970). The dustwrappers of the first three novels are splendidly illustrated by Broom Lynne; the fourth by John Alcorn; the fifth by Oliver Elms. Selections from the series were televised memorably by the BBC in the 1990s starring David Jason and Catherine Zeta Jones. The first novel, 'The Darling Buds of May', formed the basis of the MGM feature film 'The Mating Game' (1959) directed by George Marshall and starring Debbie Reynolds and Tony Randall. COMPLETE SETS IN UNCLIPPED DUSTWRAPPERS ARE SELDOM OFFERED FOR SALE. Eads, A86a (1958), A87a (1959), A90a (1960), A97a (1963) and A108a (1970) respectively.