First edition of Roald Dahl's first book for children, James and The Giant Peach. Orphan James Trotter acquires magic crystals that incite a peach to become massive, and finds a hidden door in the peach that leads to a magical world.
Written by Roald Dahl. Illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. 1961, true first edition, first state. A Borzoi Book, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, New York. (First published in the UK in 1967 by George Allen and Unwin.)
Author Janelle Brown, writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books, captures what I also enjoy about Roald Dahl: "...Dahl tapped into my own secret desires, even if I couldn’t express them myself."
James and The Giant Peach, Dahl's first book for children, tells the story of James Trotter, an orphaned boy who, suffering the 'care' of his cruel and odious Aunts Sponge and Spiker, comes into possession of magic crystals that incite a peach to grow into epic proportions and unlock a hidden door into the peach and a group of welcoming insects and incredible adventure.
Roald Dahl (1919 - 1990) was appreciated, or rejected, or banned outright, for writing about lost boys and girls and their terrible treatment at the hands of despicable adults within enormously creative stories in which the children prevail. Not just happy endings but the goodness of children triumphing over evil.
Roald Dahl also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Witches, The Twits, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and more.
Discover more of Roald Dahl's wonderful books at Goodreads.
Goodreads.com/author/show/4273.Roald_Dahl
Nancy Ekholm Burkert (1933 - ) is also known for her celebrated illustrations for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Nightingale, The Fir Tree, and The Scroobius Pip.
Learn more about Burkert's work.
Muse.jhu.edu/article/250072
A first edition, first state book will have a five-line colophon at the back of the book, as pictured here, that includes this line: Bound by H. Wolff, New York. The second state edition has a four-line colophon that credits a different bookbinder: Bound by The Book Press, New York.
The other issue points:
- Cover boards are bound in red cloth.
- Front cover is embossed with the same image of James that's on the title page.
- Title is stamped in gold on the spine.
- Top edges of text block is tinted yellow.
- Pages show the milling lines.
Condition*: Very Good. Missing dust jacket. The cloth cover is bumped on the bottom corners and slightly frayed on the bottom edge, near the spine, and has two small stains on the back. The owner's name is written on the front flyleaf. (Acquired from owner's estate.) There's a small brown stain on the title page and some of the pages have soiled fingerprints. The binding is intact but a bit loose.
* Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.
Etsy.com/shop/TheCharmedBookshop
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