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PULLMAN, Philip. His Dark Materials [comprising] Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, the Amber Spyglass [and] The Book of Dust Vols I-III [comprising] La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth, The Rose Field [and] Lyra's Oxford [and] Once Upon a Time in the North. London: Scholastic Children's Books/David Fickling Books, 1995-2022 His Dark Materials Trilogy: Large 8vos., 3 vols; burgundy, green and black linson boards, lettered in gilt to spines; Vol II with knife device gilt to upper board; Vol III titled to upper; all in the highly decorative pictorial dustwrappers designed by David Scutt; Vol III with coloured endpapers; pp. [x], 3-399, [ix]; [viii], 341, [iii]; [viii], 548, [iv]; with decorative devices and quotations throughout all volumes; a lovely, bright set; Vol I slightly faded along backstrip of wrapper; Vol II and III lightly spotted to the upper edge, extending slightly to fore-edge and prelims in the latter; some mild creasing to wrappers at spine tips, with some associated pushing to the boards beneath; otherwise aside from very minor marking and shelfwear, a smart set of this celebrated fantasy series. First editions, first printings all, with full number lines 1-10 where called for. Pullman was still teaching full time when he began to write 'The Northern Lights', set in his home town of Oxford, though in a parallel universe. With the overarching title of the series taken directly from Milton's 'Paradise Lost', Pullman cites his influences as Blake, Socrates, and Heinrich von Kleist, and was inspired to write about Daemons (animal companions which are the character's inner selves in physical form) after seeing Leonardo da Vinci's 'Lady with an Ermine', showing the figure holding an animal in her arms. The trilogy follows Lyra Belacqua and her daemon Pan as they track down stolen children, navigate parallel universes and encounter such characters as witches, aeronauts and armoured bears along the way. The books have won multiple awards and have been adapted several times for film, radio and television, most recently as a BBC series aired between 2019 and 2022. The Book of Dust Trilogy: Large 8vos., 3 vols; black cloth lettered and decorated respectively in sparkling gold, metallic red and bronze with titles and quotations; decorative endpapers; Vol III with gold ribbon marker; all in their respective unclipped dustwrappers with cover designs by Tom Sanderson; pp. [xii], 3-545, [v]; [xii], 686, [vi]; [xiv], 5-621, 1.00 25/11/2025 [ix]; all books near-fine, spine ends occasionally pushed, light dirt-mark to the foreedge of Vol II; Vol III purchased new and thus fine. First editions, first printings all, with full number lines 1-10. Vol II neatly signed by Pullman in blue ink; Vol III the Exclusive edition, together with publisher's promotional bookmark loosely laid in. The parallel trilogy of novels centring around the character of Malcolm Polstead and his daemon Asta. Volume one was published in 2017, over 15 years since 'The Subtle Knife' had been released, but is essentially a prequel to Pullman's former trilogy, and follows Malcolm and a 15 year-old Alice as they protect the infant Lyra, entrusting her into the care of Jordan college. It also reveals further insights into the creation of her famous alethiometer. The second volume moves back to Lyra, and focuses on her post-graduate years, with her travels into the far east. The final long-awaited volume was published in 2025, and finally brings to a close Pullman's remarkable journey with the protagonist, introducing characters such as thieves and gryphons as well as reintroducing some old friends. Lyra's Oxford: 12mo., bright red cloth with onlaid pictorial label to upper board; spine lettered in black; lower board lettered and decorated with map of England in black; pale grey endpapers; pp. [x], 3-48, [viii], with numerous woodcut devices, vignettes and illustrations throughout by John Lawrence, as well as a folding colour map and [vi] black and white ephem.
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