Together with uninscribed copy of the same, marked "revised edition" on title and with a printed note on p. 2, "This revised edition supersedes the Original Version which should no longer be used."  Copyright date and PN are identical.  Blindstamp of Michael Kennedy to foot of p. [1].  Wrappers of same design but printed in black; somewhat worn, upper detached, lower punched; else in very good condition.

From the library of critic Michael Kennedy (1926–2014), who was a close friend of the composer and became his biographer in 1964.

Ralph Vaughan Williams recalled that the impetus for A London Symphony came during a fleeting conversation with fellow English composer, George Butterworth:

"At the end of the evening, just as he was getting up to go, he said, in his characteristically abrupt way, ‘You know, you ought to write a symphony.’ From that moment the idea of a symphony – a thing which I had always declared I would never attempt – dominated my mind."

Vaughan Williams’ Second Symphony, officially titled A London Symphony, developed from sketches for a symphonic poem. Completed in 1913, the Symphony was premiered a year later at Queen’s Hall in London. The score disappeared during the upheaval of the First World War and was reconstructed from individual orchestra parts. In the succeeding years, the work underwent three revisions. Vaughan Williams declared the final version, published in 1936, to be definitive. In 1951, he wrote, “The London Symphony is past mending, though with all its faults I love it still; indeed, it is my favorite.” The Symphony was dedicated to George Butterworth, who was killed in combat during the First World War.