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BRAGG**, MELVYN: : The Adventure of English: 500AD to 2000 THE BIOGRAPHY of a LANGUAGE. [Author SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.HODDER & STOUGHTON,2003.

ISBN 0340829915.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn,5th imp. [Complete number line 5 7 9 10 8 6,so 1st edn,5th imp.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn but author's handwritten,black ink dedication,signature and date: 'To Gail with best wishes Melvyn Bragg Dec/03.' to title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.(Recipient's name obliquely underscored and another separate oblique line through his printed name as part of the autnor's inscrptn.) Bright,crisp,clean,part matt, part glossy,wrap-around seasscape colour photographic illustrated dw/dj,with brown and b/w lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present - and both head +foot of spine of dw/dj minisculely bumped with reciprocal creasing.Top edges with minimal thumbing near headband area but otherwise,along with the fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain dark blue cloth bds with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain maroon eps.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn, ix-xiipp+1-354pp [paginated] includes author introduction,24 chapters,32pp contemporary facsimile colour+b/w illustrations reproductions in 4 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp84/5,pp148/9,pp196/7 and pp260/1 respectively,acknowledgements, picture acknowledgements, a 10pp bibliography,and an index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title,author's handwritten SIGNED,dedicated and date-lined title page,dedication and contents list/table and 2pp blanks at the rear of the book. English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages.It is democratic,everchanging and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance,medicine and the Internet,and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world.It seems set to go on.Yet it was very nearly wiped out in its early years. In this book Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language.Along the way its colourful story takes in a host of characters and locations,from the early tribes,Alfred the Great's stubborn resistance to the Danes,and through its early literary masterpieces such as Beowulf and the bawdy Geoffrey Chaucer; Henry VIII's battles with the church over bootleg bibles; a 'coarse' playwright named William Shakespeare; the songs of the Creole slaves and the words of Davy Crockett; street slang and Dr Johnson's dictionary; the role of English in India and its adoption in the United States which returned the language with full interest. Embracing elements of Latin,French, Spanish,Italian,Portuguese,Arabic,Hindi and Gullah,this 1500-year story covers a great range of countries and peoples.'THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH' is not only an enthralling story of power,religion and trade,but also the story of people,and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English. Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices,weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn,5th imp.
'To Gail with best wishes Melvyn Bragg Dec/03.'

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