Island Magic

Elizabeth Goudge

Published by Coward-McCann, New York, 1936

About this Item

Stated Third Edition. According to one seller, the American Coward-McCann edition was published before the Duckworth edition from England. Very curious, very unusual, is the fact that none of the Coward-McCann editions are dated. I've seen photographs of copies that state Fifth Edition and Ninth Edition and they don't have dates. There is a seller of what is identified as a First Edition which does not have a date. But I'm very confident that this Third Edition was published two years after the first edition. My confidence is based on the list of New Fiction published by Coward-McCann on the rear cover of my dust jacket: with every one of these books that are listed for sale on the Internet the publishing date of the first editions is 1936. So this is a fairly rare early edition with its dust jacket, which shows a price of $2.50, the same price as another listed book identified as a first edition and selling for $500.00. That book has a very nice jacket but is missing two pages. You can see the green covers in the photos. There is what looks like a small water stain off the front top corner. It can be seen lightly on the blank front end paper, but happily not on the half-title page or on any other page in the book. And there are no other water stains anywhere in the book. There is also one light discoloration off the bottom edge of the front cover, one light discoloration off the bottom edge of the rear cover, and one a third of the way down the spine (see photos). The black lettering on the spine is nicely bright. There is a light bit of edge where at the top and bottom edges of the spine, a tiny tear at the top one. The cover edges are in very good shape, no conspicuous rubbing. There is a spot of rub-through at the front top corner. The other three corners look very good, no rub-through. The spine does have a moderate forward lean, but the book is very solidly bound from cover to cover. There are no cracks or spaces between any of the facing pages or between the covers and any of the pages. The covers are nicely, tightly bound. The interior of the book is in very good condition. The text pages are exceptionally clean. Scrolling through, I haven't found any instances of soiling. Only the blank front end paper has a little bit of soiling, very mild. There is no foxing anywhere. I'm not finding any creasing at all, no turned-down corners, no placeholder creases, nothing. There are no markings in the book. No attachments of any kind. And no one has written their name or anything else anywhere. You can see the dust jacket in the first few photos. Taking into account that the book was published in 1936, I've rated the jacket Good. There is a fairly small loss off the front top edge also off the bottom edge of the spine. You can see the small loss at the center the spine, and the loss off the top edge of the spine which has removed some of the lettering. The rear cover looks good. It has a little bit of handling soiling, and two very tiny edge tears. The flaps are very clean. They don't seem to have any wear, but the previous owner did make tucking-in clips and all four corners. The clip at the front flap's top corner did not reach the price which is present and unaffected. I have always had the jacket in a fitted protective cover. This was Elizabeth Goudge's first novel. The rear flap contains a couple of blurbs. One from the London Daily Telegraph: 'A really charming book, very human and humourful, with five of the most real children I have ever met in fiction, and full of the most gorgeous descriptions of life in Guernsey.' And from Public Opinion: 'This is more than a first novel of promise; it is an achievement.' The story is based on the memories of Goudge's mother who grew up on Guernsey. Also from the dust jacket: 'Sunshine and storm, picnics and wrecks, love and death and second sight all have their part in this story. But above all is the author gifted in the shrewd, wise humor of her character drawing.'. Seller Inventory # 005305

Bibliographic Details

Title: Island Magic

Publisher: Coward-McCann, New York

Publication Date: 1936

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Good