Give Me Yesterday by James Williams 
 Very rare to find a Signed copy by the author, as well as a letter from the author James Williams to Christina Foyle, daughter of William Foyle (governor at the school where James Williams taught) and the accompanied reply. 
About the Book:  James Williams returns to his childhood village, and this is his memories. Very well written and entertaining memoir.
“ The Nostalgic yearning for our yesterdays may be nothing more thana refusal to accept the future, and its probable way of life; we see the future only darkly, but we see the past clearly in focus. Time, like a medieval alembic distils the past, leaving memory to select what it wishes to remember. That is why a book about one’s early life is not objective; it is a catalogue of prejudices, of illogical likes and dislikes. We instinctively remember parts we wish to, discounting those which we do not. To return to haunts of our childhood can be a saddening experience, everything is so much smaller than in our memory. Cottages we have known are in ruins, with trees usually ah s or sycamore growing out through the roofs; footpaths, once well-trodden are overgrown, no welcoming smoke rises from chimneys, and we hear no merry voices of children at play.  When I returned recently to the cwm of my childhood, I found that alders, brambles, and blackthorn had taken possession of fertile fields where once I helped at haymaking. My Favourite trout pools were effectively, obscured by sucker alder growth, strands of barbed wire denied passage over the old stiles,’sticill,’ the mill leat had been bulldozed, and drainage everywhere neglected. Even the springs where we has so often quenched our sweating thirst lying on our stomachs, with face immersed, both eyes wide open, had become through neglect little bogs or swamps. Many years had passed since comely maiden and grey-haired grannies had filled their pitchers with the good water of these wells. Around the dilapidated cottages lilacs left undisturbed, had thriven mightily, whiles the laburnums were festooned with chains of golden glory. The natural beauty of cwm was still breath-taking, but it no longer nourished the aesthetic cravings of it s own inhabitants; these had all left. I missed them and felt they should have been there. It was quite illogical to expect not to miss them, but they had lived unageing in my memory, and I had chosen to forget that they too grew old along with us. 
 
Book Type: Signed First Edition. 
Front Cover:  Jacket Design by Elgan Davies
Back cover photograph of the author by N. Vashon Baker
Genre:  Fiction, 
Edition: First Printing November 1971
Published by Gwasg Comer
ISBN: 850881250
Size: 22.5cm x 14cm
154 Pages
A good copy.
 
CONTENTS
Preface
Early Days
Patch-work Quilts
The Flyng Coffin
Killing the Pig
Love is a Welsh Climate
Passionate encounter
Hay Harvest
Social Background
Sunday School and Chapel
Poppit
Vendetta
The Grammar School 
 
Back Story: James Williams “was born in a remote corner of West Wales, into a way of life which has now entirely disappeared. This he evokes nostalgically in these memories. After studying at Aberystwyth he entered the Education Service of the Egyptian Government, and some eight years later was able to fulfil a long-felt wish to study widely, so he became a student of Oxford, Durham, London and abroad. After spending twenty years as Headmaster of a large co-ed school he has now retired and lives in a beautiful Georgian house outside Oxford where he indulges his hobbies, gardening, talking, foreign travel – preferably in a caravan, deciphering 17th century MSS, and private flying when it is warm and fine.”
 
CONDITION:
Dustjacket: Creasing and tearing to edges which are yellowing. Foxing to inside of dust jacket. 
Covers: Blue flecked covers are good.  Fairly clean. Some age-related wear, with a small marks on covers as per photographs 
Binding: Tight  
Spine: Bright clean title on spine. Some bumping and wear on board cover ends. No Sun fade. 
Pages.  All pages complete. In very good condition bright and clean. 
Postage
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