London: Calder & Boyars, 1970

Small 8vo, pp. 126, 2pp. advertisements bound in at rear. Original black boards, lettered in silver to spine. Photographically illustrated dustwrapper. A fine copy in a near fine dustwrapper with just a little wear to leading edge of front panel and a very small closed tear to head of spine.

First edition, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR TO RAY GALTON: 'To Ray Galton Best Wishes (Part I) Best Wishes II John Antrobus 6th July 1982'.

Ray Galton [1930-2018] was half of the peerless comedy writing duo Galton and Simpson, creators of Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son, and the inventors of the modern sitcom. After Alan Simpson's retirement Galton struck up a working partnership with John Antrobus, the co-writer with Spike Milligan of The Bed-Sitting Room (1963) which was filmed in 1969 with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Ralph Richardson, Marty Feldman, Rita Tushingham, Arthur Lowe, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan......everyone, really. Together, Galton and Antrobus put Steptoe and Son on stage with their play Murder in Oil Drum Lane (2005) -- and in 1987 had staged another joint effort, the unimprovably titled When Did You Last See Your Trousers?)

An excellent association.