Service with a Smile

First published in 1961, this Blandings Castle novel brings Uncle Fred (Lord Ickenham) to Lord Emsworth's Shropshire house, where the Empress of Blandings, a Church Lads' camp in the park, and several tangled engagements supply the confusion. Ickenham impersonates, meddles, and pairs lovers while Emsworth wants only to be left with his pig and while Lady Constance tries to keep order. Beach the butler and the usual castle guests move in and out of the plots. The book is a farce of impersonation and country-house logistics, not a satire of the Church Lads as an institution.

56 pen-and-wash, including six full-page, three spread across two pages, 12 head-pieces and eight tail-pieces. Dark blue or light brown slipcase. A separate issue of the 2004 Best of Blandings set.