Here's the finest example of the practice I've yet to read.
It's the opening of the Acknowledgements to the book Bumper, written in 1953 by the (otherwise great) Keith Miller and someone I've never heard of.
"We wish to acknowledge our delighted indebtedness for
the graceful foreword which our great and lovable Prime
Minister so graciously consented to contribute at a time
when his despairing doctors were trying to hang a 'Do
Not Disturb' notice outside his office door.
"Really great men, of course, always find time, even when
they have pneumonia and an urgent date with Mr.
Churchill.
"We wish to apologise for the slump in the standard of
cricket writing that follows immediately after the foreword,
but trust that readers will console themselves with the
knowledge that the foreword alone is worth double the
money they paid for our fourth book".
