Wodehouse, P. G. (1881–1975)

Full Moon [Blandings Castle] [British Humour] [Postwar Fiction]

London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1947. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover with Dust Jacket.

A highly regarded late Blandings Castle novel, Full Moon stands among the most enduring works of Wodehouse’s postwar period.

Set once again at Blandings, the novel showcases Wodehouse’s comic mastery at full stride, weaving mistaken identities, romantic misadventure, and absurd social entanglements into a tightly plotted farce culminating in the celebrated episode ‘A Meeting at Midnight’. Published five months after the American edition, the British first is identical in text and remains the preferred collectible issue.

Publisher’s orange cloth with titles stamped in black. Octavo; 7.5 inches tall; 252 pages. Pictorial dust jacket designed by Frank Ford.

Bindings are tight and square. Text is clean and bright throughout. Minimal shelf handling wear to the book, which remains notably fresh in appearance. Dust jacket is price-clipped and housed in a new clear Mylar sleeve; shows shelf-soiling to the white rear panel, a small rub at the top of the front spine corner, and a closed tear at the “G” of the author’s name on the front panel. Overall an attractive, well-preserved example. First Edition, First Printing (British).

Full Moon represents Wodehouse at the height of his mature style: effortless prose, impeccable timing, and an intricate comic structure that conceals considerable technical skill. The novel returns to the familiar terrain of Blandings Castle, with Lord Emsworth, the Empress of Blandings, and a rotating cast of romantic hopefuls whose plans collide under the influence of moonlight, misunderstanding, and Wodehouse’s benevolent narrative hand.

By 1947, Wodehouse had fully re-established himself with British readers after the war, and Full Moon confirms the continuity of his comic universe across shifting historical circumstances. As the sixth Blandings novel, it occupies an important position within the cycle and is frequently cited as one of the strongest late entries in the series. Copies with the Frank Ford pictorial jacket remain increasingly scarce in collectible condition.

Subjects: P. G. Wodehouse, Blandings Castle, British Comic Novels, Postwar British Literature, Frank Ford Dust Jacket, Humorous Fiction, Twentieth-Century English Literature, Comic Fiction, British Humour, Literary Satire.

References: McIlvaine A66b; Wodehouseonline

Item #21345

Price: $165.00