The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Over 1,900 results)

First edition. 8vo. Original blue-green cloth with gilt vignettes and titles to the spine and upper cover. Top edge gilt. Author's presentation copy, inscribed by Grahame on the half title, "To Ruth Ward, from her friend Kenneth Grahame / Oct. 1908" A little wear to the spine ends and corners, but generally bright and clean and notably fresh internally. Woodcut frontispiece by Graham Robertson. A rare presentation copy of one of the classics of children's literature. Ruth Ward was the daughter of family friends of the Grahames, Sidney and Katherine Ward. Sidney Ward was a colleague of Grahame's at the Bank of England who became a close friend and "companions for hearty country weekends". (ODNB) Ruth was the same age as Grahame's son, Alastair, (known to his parents as Mouse) and became a close childhood friend. Wind in the Willows had its genesis in a series of impromptu bedtime stories which Grahame told Alastair. Katherine Ward was one of the first to hear about these stories, as Grahame refers to them in a letter to her of May 1904, "[Mouse] had a bad crying fit on the night of his birthday, and I had to tell him stories about moles, giraffes & water-rats (he selected these subjects) till after 12." This copy was sent by Grahame to Ward as a birthday present. In a letter to her, Grahame's wife Elspeth writes, "I thought you might like perhaps better than anything else a new book that Mouse's Daddy has just written, so I asked him for one for your birthday present. I want to know how you like it." The two families remained in contact throughout Grahame's life, Elspeth writing to Ruth Ward on Grahame's death in 1932 to tell him that he had been buried next to Mouse (who had committed suicide in 1920), "Kenneth so loved the Boy & so loved Oxford itself that we are glad to think he rests there. I felt you knew Mouse so well & Kenneth also that I would like you to know they were together." Presentation copies of the first edition of Wind in the Willows are of the utmost rarity in commerce. We know of but six copies, 1. Inscribed to Helen Grahame (Oct. 1908). Private American Collection. 2. Inscribed to Ruth Ward (Oct. 1908). Present copy. 3. Inscribed to Foy Quiller-Couch (Oct. 1908). Private American Collection. 4. Inscribed to Thomas Anstey Guthrie ("F. Anstey") (Oct. 1908). Private British collection. 5. Inscribed to Constance Smedley (Oct. 1908). Sold Sotheby Oct. 1981. 6. Inscribed to Mary E. Richardson. Sold Sotheby July 1965. Osborne p. 349.

First edition, first printing. Original blue-green cloth with gilt illustration and title to the front and spine, in the supplied first printing dustwrapper. Top edge gilt. Black and white frontispiece by Graham Robertson, complete with tissue guard, as issued. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm with a little rubbing at the extremities. The contents, with some spotting to the endpapers and deckled edge are otherwise clean througout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rare first printing dustwrapper that is chipped with a little loss to the spine ends and corners with thin archival tissue paper strengthening to the underside at the folds. Correctly priced 6/- to the upper panel (subsequent editions were published at 7/6). Housed in a bespoke quarter green morocco solander case. An excellent example of this classic of children's literature and a genuine rarity in the first printing dustwrapper. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

First edition, first impression, with the extremely rare first issue jacket (with the first publication price of 6/- on the front panel). "The joy and self-confidence in so much of Grahame's text. ensured the book's place as a children's classic" (Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature). In dust jacket, this is one of the great rarities of 20th-century literature and a keystone book in any collection of children's literature. In the past 45 years there have only been nine copies (including this) in first issue jackets sold at auction where they have commanded premium prices. Later issue dust jackets would show a price of 7/6 on the front panel. This copy includes a single publisher's advertisement leaf which is loosely inserted. The two titles listed are Beatrice Harraden's Interplay ("to be published in September") and Richard Bagot's Anthony Cuthbert (noted as "Mr. Bagot's new novel"). It is believed that the bookplate is that of Ivan Donald Margary (1896-1976), an authority on Roman roads and author of Roman Roads in Britain (first published in 1955). Grolier Children's 100, 61. Octavo. Original green cloth, lettering and decorations on spine and front cover in gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Publisher's advertisement leaf loosely inserted. With dust jacket printed in dark green. Housed in custom green full morocco folding box. Black and white frontispiece by Graham Robertson. Bookplate of I. D. Margary on front pastedown. Extremities slightly rubbed with one corner slightly bumped, some internal foxing and browning; a near-fine and remarkably crisp copy. Dust jacket with professional restoration to spine, edges, and joints, including some expert facsimile to spine.

First Shepard edition, signed limited issue, number 170 of 200 large paper copies signed by both author and artist. This edition - also issued unsigned in a cloth binding - was the first edition to be illustrated by Shepard, whose classic illustrations of anthropomorphized animals render this the most popular version of the book even today. Wind in the Willows was first published in 1908 with only a frontispiece for illustration. Well-known for his illustrations of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh series, Shepard was asked to illustrate a new edition, following Milne's popular adaptation of the book for the stage, Toad of Toad Hall. In 1931 Shepard visited Grahame at his house in Pangbourne to make sketches, and at their first meeting Grahame said to him, "I love these little people, be kind to them". Large octavo. Original green cloth-backed grey boards, white paper label to spine printed in black, spare label tipped-in at rear as issued. With dust jacket. Housed in a dark green quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. Illustrated throughout by E. H. Shepard, folding map at rear. Gentle toning to endpapers, else a fine copy, largely unopened, in the near-fine jacket, light soiling, minor peripheral rubbing, slight creases to flaps, overall a nice example with the price intact and without chipping or restoration.

Second edition, printed in the same month as the first edition and in identical format. 8vo. Original blue-green cloth with gilt illustration on the spine and upper cover. Top edge gilt. Author's presentation copy, inscribed on the half-title, "Austin M. Purves / with greeting, + all the good wishes of the season, from Kenneth Grahame, Christmas 1908" A beautiful, fine copy, bright and crisp and internally perfect. A superb copy. Striking black and white frontispiece by Graham Robertson. Austin Montgomery Purves was a Philadelphia based businessman, associated with the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company for more than thirty years. Purves had a keen interest in grand opera as well as art and literature and sought to move in artistic circles, counting Maxfield Parrish, Jessie Wilcox Smith and Arthur Quiller-Couch amongst his friends. They met the Grahames' at Fowey in 1907, "while the Grahame's were at Fowey in May and June 1907, they made the acquaintance of an American family also on holiday there - Mr and Mrs Austin Purves of Philadelphia, and their five sons. Kenneth actually stood godfather to Pierre, the youngest, at his Fowey christening. Grahame and Austin Purves continued to correspond regularly until the latter's death in 1915." - Peter Green (Kenneth Grahame A Study of His Life, Work and Times) Purves sought to help Grahame by writing a favourable review of the American edition Wind in the Willows for an American magazine. In a letter to Purves of November 1908, Grahame wrote, "I'm most awfully obliged to you for the solid work you are putting in on behalf of 'the W. in the W.' Your review was perfectly charming, & is bound to be most helpful. That the book has given you all personal pleasure is of course very good for me to think of." Presentation copies of The Wind in the Willows are decidedly rare.

Condition: Near fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near fine. Graham Robertson (illustrator). First Edition. 8vo. 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. (190 x 120 mm). pp. [1] + viii + 302 + i. Laid paper, deckle edges, t.e.g. With a captioned frontispieces, "And a River went out of Eden", on coated paper after a pen-and-ink drawing by Walford Graham Robertson (1866 - 1948); tissue guard. Original blue-green cloth with gilt illustration on the spine (Toad dressed in a driving outfit and goggles) and upper cover ( Pan playing flute to Rat and Mole by the river) and a single gilt rule on the upper cover. In the second issue publisher's pictorial peach-color dust jacket printed in black with price of 7/6 instead of 6/-.The spine of the dust jacket slightly darkened but in excellent condition with a couple small tears at head expertly repaired on verso; scattered foxing and discoloration to dust jacket and pages, wear to spine edges consistent with age. [Grolier: One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature, no.61; Osborne I, p. 349; Hunt p. 45 & 66; Hahn, D. Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, p. 241-242]. This is the FIRST EDITION with the SCARCE DUST JACKET of one of the essential classics of children's literature. The book is based on bedtime stories that the Scottish-born banker and author Kenneth Grahame (1859 - 1932) told his young son Alistair, who was sickly and nicknamed "Mouse". The stories began when Alistair was 4 and continued in a series of letters that the father wrote to his son while traveling. When Grahame retired as the Secretary of the Bank of England in 1908 due to ill health. «.Aware of the potential for a fuller treatment Grahame took the letters, which deal with Mr. Toad's adventures escaping from prison and conclude with his return to the society of Ratty, Mole and Badger and the battle for Toad Hall, and converted them into the finished work. What emerged was no lighthearted story about a countryside community of animals but a long and ramifying fable. » The book was bulky and had no illustrations, so the London publisher, Algernon Methuen, put it on his adult rather than juvenile list, stirring confusion and arguments among the readers and critics. (One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature, p. 210) Nonetheless The Wind in the Willows flourished and the advertures of the "bad, low animal," Mr. Toad, grew in poupularity. The novel had seen over 30 printings when A. A. Milne adapted part of it for the stage as 'Toad of Toad Hall' in 1929. The first film adaptation was produced in 1949 by Walt Disney as one of two segments in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Numerous adaptations in film and television have followed since.

Signed limited edition, number 192 of 200 large paper copies signed by both Grahame and Shepard, printed on handmade paper. Grahame's children's classic was originally published in 1908 with only a frontispiece for an illustration. Although the work was subsequently published with illustrations by several artists, it was E. H. Shepard who brought the narrative to life with his evocative line drawings. Well-known for his illustrations of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh series, Shepard was asked to illustrate a new edition, following Milne's popular adaptation of the book for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall. In 1931 Shepard visited Grahame at his house in Pangbourne to make sketches, and at their first meeting Grahame said to him, "I love these little people, be kind to them". Small quarto. Original green cloth-backed grey paper covered boards, spine with paper label lettered in black, edges untrimmed. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom green cloth-backed folding box. Illustrated throughout by E. H. Shepard, folding map at end. Minor browning to endpapers, two adhesive tape marks and abrasions to preliminary blank, largely unopened, a fine copy. Dust jacket toned, minor adhesive tape repairs to reverse, extremities rubbed, some soiling, a good copy of an unclipped jacket.

First edition illustrated by Shepard. Deluxe issue, one of only 200 copies, printed on handmade paper and signed by both Kenneth Grahame and E.H. Shepard. Royal 8vo. Green cloth spine and paper covered boards with printed labels, in printed dustwrapper. A fine book in a near fine dustwrapper, with very slight dustiness to the rear panel. Illustrated throughout by Shepard and with fold out map of Toad Hall and its vicinity to the rear. The small limitation and its popularity make this a very rare book, especially hard to find in nice condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. E.H. Shepard (illustrator). 8vo. One quarter green buckram over gray boards with paper label to spine. Cream dust jacket with navy lettering. Dust jacket has slight sunning to the rear panel and very light nicking to the edges. The book is in very near fine condition. A spectacular copy of this limited and signed edition, which Grahame approved and liked the illustrations. Edition of 200 copies, this is number 46. Signed by Kenneth Grahame and E. H. Shepard.

First edition, in second issue dust-jacket with price of 7/6. Frontispiece by Graham Robertson with tissue guard. 302 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. In Scarce Dust-Jacket. This classic was developed out of bedtime stories Grahame told to his son Alastair, know in the family as Mouse. "The Wind in the Willows.remains one of the most famous books in the English language, and it can be seriously argued that it is not a children's book at all. Despite the presence of Rat, Toad, Mole, and Badger as central characters, it can be read as an account of threat of social change and the destruction of rural England, and of the response of a generation. Grahame's own life is clearly reflected in its attitude to women, to religion, to retreatism, to food and drink, to rebellion, and to home and friendship, among many other things." (ONDB). Grolier 100 Children's Books 61 Original blue cloth with gilt decoration and lettering on front cover and spine, top edge gilt, others uncut, restoration to rear hinge, faintest foxing, dust-jacket toned and expertly restored Frontispiece by Graham Robertson with tissue guard. 302 pp. 1 vols. 8vo First edition, in second issue dust-jacket with price of 7/6.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition, first impression of The Wind in the Willows complete with original dust jacket. Second state jacket with price 7/6 on the cover. The first issue was only supplied with a handful of copies. Original green cloth boards with gilt illustrations and lettering. Rubbed with wear to the spine ends. Light bleaching/marking spots on the boards. Top edge gilt and others uncut. Lightly browned end pages with light foxing within the text. The bright and clean dust jacket has benefited from professional restoration of the spine and folds.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing SIGNED BY Kenneth Grahame on a laid in signature. A wonderful copy. The book is bound in the publisher's ORIGINAL blue cloth and is in great shape. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning with minor wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A superb copy SIGNED by the author. We buy Kenneth Grahame First Editions. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, author of "The Golden Age", "Dream Days" .First edition with a scarce second state jacket. With a frontpiece by Graham Robertson. Original green cloth boards with rubbed gilt illustration and lettering. Wear to the edges and corners. Uncut pages which are top edged gilt. Signature on the browned front end page dated 2-03-12. Tissue guarded frontis illustration. The contents are clean and tidy. Dust jacket has wear to the extremities and repaired tears on the spine. Small pieces missing from upper and lower edges of spine. 8vo 302 pp.

Hardcover. Condition: Collectible Very Good. No Jacket. Robertson, Graham (illustrator). First Edition. Gilt design on spine and front board fresh and bright. Tissue-guard over frontispiece is a little yellowed. An inscription on the front free endpaper has been neatly obscured by some sort of ink-remover, not causing any damage to the paper. A really bright and desirable copy. Photographs available on request.

First edition with illustrations by E.H. Shepard. 8vo. Signed by both Grahame and Shepard to the title page. Original dark green cloth with gilt vignettes on upper cover and titles on the spine. Pictorial endpapers by Shepard. A fine copy, small bump to head of the spine. A couple of very light spots to front endpapers and first blank, otherwise clean internally. Illustrated throughout in line. Uncommon signed by both author and illustrator. Grahame's children's classic was originally published in 1908 with no illustrations in the text. Although the work was subsequently illustrated by several artists, none matched the success of the text until, E.H.Shepard, fresh from his successful collaboration on A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh books, brought the narrative to life with his evocative line drawings in 1931. His illustrations have been barely out of print since and have become inexorably linked to the book.

Signed limited edition, number 127 of 200 large paper copies signed by both Grahame and Shepard. Wind in the Willows was first published in 1908 with only a frontispiece for illustration, and Shepard, well-known by then for his illustrations of A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh series, was asked to illustrate a new edition, following on from Milne's popular adaptation of the book for stage, Toad of Toad Hall. In 1931 Shepard visited Grahame at his house in Pangbourne to make sketches, and at their first meeting Grahame said to him, "I love these little people, be kind to them". Shepard's classic illustrations render this the most popular version of the book even today. Large octavo. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in dark green morocco, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, raised bands, covers ruled in gilt, pictorial block gilt on front cover, turn-ins twin-ruled in gilt, floral endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Housed in a leather entry slipcase by the Chelsea Bindery. Illustrated throughout by E. H. Shepard. A fine copy.

First edition, first impression. "The joy and self-confidence in so much of Grahame's text. ensured the book's place as a children's classic" (Grolier) and "one of the central classics of children's fiction" (Oxford Companion to Children's Literature). Grolier Children's 100, 61. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine and front cover lettered and with extravagant decoration in gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Housed in a custom blue morocco-backed folding box by the Chelsea Bindery. Black and white frontispiece by Graham Robertson. Early ownership signature to title page. Bright and fresh, extremities very slightly rubbed, spine very slightly skewed, occasional light browning: a near-fine copy.

Condition: Fine. First Edition. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's dark green cloth with elaborate gilt stamping on upper board and spine; top edge guilt and other edges rough cut. About Fine. A stunning copy with slight rubbing at the extremities, gilt stamping is sharp and bright. Former owner name to front free endpaper, very slight crease to the first several pages, contents bright.

First Shepard edition, signed limited issue, number 164 of 200 large paper copies signed by both author and artist. This edition - also issued unsigned in a cloth binding - was the first edition to be illustrated by Shepard, whose classic illustrations of anthropomorphized animals render this the most popular version of the book even today. Wind in the Willows was first published in 1908 with only a frontispiece for illustration. Well-known for his illustrations of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh series, Shepard was asked to illustrate a new edition, following Milne's popular adaptation of the book for the stage, Toad of Toad Hall. In 1931 Shepard visited Grahame at his house in Pangbourne to make sketches, and at their first meeting Grahame said to him, "I love these little people, be kind to them". Large octavo. Original green cloth-backed grey boards, white paper label on spine printed in black, spare label tipped-in at rear as issued. With dust jacket. Illustrated throughout by E. H. Shepard, folding map at rear. A very good copy indeed, tight and sharp, a little foxing to edges, else clean and bright, in the original dust jacket that is somewhat toned and rubbed, a few nicks to extremities, short closed tear to foot of spine fold, unclipped.

Condition: Near Fine. First edition. A Near Fine copy of the book in the publisher's original green cloth binding, stamped in gilt. Minor wear at the spine ends, short one inch split to rear inner hinge, faint ghost from removed article on front free end paper, but generally in excellent condition internally. Grahame's famed children's novel, featuring the beloved Mr. Toad, Rat, Badger, and Mole. Grahame began writing the book in 1908 - in his late 40s -- after leaving his position as Secretary of the Bank of England. Much of the plot of The Wind in the Willows had its origins both in the bedtime stories Grahame had invented to tell his own son, and in Grahame's childhood experiences in Berkshire county. The book might not have been published if not for the efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt, who lobbied Methuen to release it. While reviews were mixed, the book became a classic - and would be adapted into the well known play Toad of Toad Hall, by A.A. Milne, in 1929. "The Wind in the Willows is a worthy companion to The Golden Age and Dream Days. It is whimsical, fascinating by its apparent seriousness and that sense of underlying poetry which Mr. Grahame somehow manages to convey through all his nonsense" (Contemporary New York Times Review). Near Fine.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing with the words "First Published 1908" printed on the copyright page. A beautiful copy. The book is bound in the publisher's blue cloth and is in excellent condition. The binding is tight with light wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A lovely copy in collector's condition.

First Edition. Frontispiece by Graham Robertson with tissue guard Gilt lettering and designs especially fresh and bright, short tear at head of spine, just a little other wear at edges and lower cover just a little marked, upper hinge repaired; a little foxing and browning to end-papers as usual, but a very nice copy of an increasingly scarce book; ownership inscription on fly-leaf Published twenty-three years before the first appearance of Ernest H. Shepard s illustrations of of this classic tale of Toad, Ratty, Mole and their friends, the first edition has a representation of Toad in motoring costume on the spine and an illustration for the controversial chapter VII, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", on the upper cover. Never originally intended for publication, it was first written in the form of letters to Grahame s son, Alistair.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. This is a first edition, first printing of Kenneth Grahame's "Wind In The Willows", published by Methuen and Company Ltd in 1908. It is one of the most beloved modern children's books, inspired by the bedtime stories that Kenneth Grahame told his son. Grahame's famed children's novel, featuring the beloved Mr. Toad, Rat, Badger, and Mole. Much of the plot of The Wind in the Willows had its origins both in the bedtime stories Grahame had invented to tell his own son, and in Grahame's childhood experiences in Berkshire county. It would be adapted into the well-known play Toad of Toad Hall, by A.A. Milne, in 1929.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue-green cloth with gilt vignettes and titles to the spine and upper cover. Top edge gilt, all others untrimmed. A very good copy indeed, the gilt bright to the upper cover, with only a little rubbing to the spine. Small ownership stamp to front free endpaper. Woodcut frontispiece by Graham Robertson. Osborne p. 349.

Decorative Cloth. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First Edition. Frontis., [viii.], 302 pp., blank, printer's details on verso. Original blue/green gilt lettered and elaborately decorated cloth; top edge gilt, others uncut. Frontispiece by Graham Robertson. Some rubbing to the edges, bumping to base of spine, a little foxing to the prelims and endpapers, faint ink owner's name to front pastedown, but otherwise internally clean - a very good, characterful copy. 8vo.

First edition; 8vo; frontispiece by Graham Robertson, occasional spotting and browning, slightly worn at extremities, otherwise very good; publisher's pictorial blue-green cloth stamped in gilt, leaves uncut (as published), some marks to binding, head and foot of spine bumped with minor tears, upper joint splitting, otherwise, also very good; preserved in a modern, bespoke dark blue morocco solander box. The Wind in the Willows is a far more interesting book than its popular and often juvenile audience might suggest. First, it is the work of a writer who had known considerable success in the 1890s as a young contemporary of Oscar Wilde. Grahame was also an admired contributor to the literary quarterly The Yellow Book, at which point he was employed by the Bank of England but, still in his 20s, was publishing stories in literary magazines. This work was collected in Dream Days (1895) and an even more successful publication, The Golden Age (1898). 'The text of The Wind in the Willows also encrypts a family tragedy. In 1899, Grahame married and had one child, a boy named Alastair who was troubled with health problems and a difficult personality, culminating in the boy's eventual suicide, the cause of much parental anguish. When Grahame finally retired from the Bank (as secretary) in 1908, he could concentrate on the stories he had been telling his son, the stories of the Thames riverbank on which Grahame himself had grown up. So The Wind in the Willows is a tale steeped in nostalgia, and inspired by a father's love for his only son.' (Robert McCrum).

SHEPARD, Ernest H. (illustrator). . The Wind in the Willows. Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. London: Methuen & Co., 1931. Full Description: GRAHAME, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. London: Methuen & Co., [1931]. First edition illustrated by Shepard. (The first edition was published in 1908 with a frontispiece by Graham Robertson.) Limited to 200 numbered copies on handmade paper, signed by both the author and illustrator. This being copy number 42. Small quarto (8 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches; 220 x 185 mm). [2, blank], [6], 312 pp. Text illustrations. Folding map at end. Original quarter green buckram over gray boards. Printed paper label on spine. All edges uncut. Additional printed paper spine label tipped in at end. A fine copy. Always a champion of The Wind in the Willows, A.A. Milne turned the novel into the play Toad of Toad Hall in 1929. Not surprisingly, Milne focused primarily on the animals, excising most of Grahame's romantic fantasy. When Grahame's work was originally published in 1908 it received only moderate enthusiasm, but the huge success of Milne's stage version, and this subsequent republication of the book with Shepard's illustrations, helped establish the book as a children's classic. HBS 68944. $5,500.

First Edition. Frontispiece by Graham Robertson with tissue guard Gilt lettering and designs fresh and bright, a little wear at edges and covers with a few very light stains, some professional colour restoration; preliminaries and end-leaves somewhat darkened and foxed as usual and edges of some leaves also foxed, but a nice copy of an increasingly scarce book. Ownership inscription erased from fly-leaf but from the library of Dame Freya Stark and her husband Stewart Perowne, bearing their Asolo bookplate Published twenty-three years before the first appearance of Ernest H. Shepard s illustrations of this classic tale of Toad, Ratty, Mole and their friends, the first edition has a representation of Toad in motoring costume on the spine and an illustration for the controversial chapter VII, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", on the upper cover. Never originally intended for publication, it was first written in the form of letters to Grahame s son, Alistair.

Full-Leather. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. Graham Robertson (illustrator). First Edition. 1st Edition 1908. From the library of Ivor Novello with his bookplate to the endpaper. A very bright example of this classic children's book. Wonderful quality bespoke full leather binding that was undertaken for Ivor Novello. Slip case is fine. Ivor Novello 1893-1951 was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Book is near fine and bright. Contents good. Light foxing to pages. More images can be taken upon request. Ref18372.

First edition. Frontispiece by Graham Robertson. 8vo. Original green cloth, pictorial design of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, blocked in gilt on the front cover, and Mr. Toad in the willows blocked on the spine. London, Methuen and Co. Originally written as bedtime stories and letters addressed to Grahame's only child, a sickly boy named Alastair and nicknamed 'Mouse', the book was rejected by Grahame's publisher The Bodley Head and eventually taken up by Methuen, albeit without advance payment, ?such was the firm's lack of confidence in the book? (ODNB). ?After the publication of The Wind in the Willows by Methuen in 1908, it found an unlikely transatlantic fan in US president Theodore Roosevelt who, in 1909, wrote to Grahame to tell him that he had ?read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends? Elsewhere, the critical response was more mixed, and it was not until AA Milne adapted parts of the book into a popular stage version, Toad of Toad Hall, in 1929, that it became established as the evergreen children's classic it is known as today? (The Guardian). A very good copy, with some wear to the cloth, especially to the head and tail of spine and the joints, spine a little rubbed and faded, top edge a little worn, some marks to the rear cover. Offsetting and spotting to the endpapers.