The Christmas Books. Being; A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man -
Charles Dickens, Charles Brock (illustrator)
1905-1907 - J.M. Dent and Co., London - First Editions to be Illustrated by Charles Brock in Colour
An attractive set of these classic seasonal tales, splendidly illustrated and presented in festive green and cranberry red bindings, all housed in a bespoke fleece-lined cloth slipcase with ribbon pull.
Beginning with A Christmas Carol when old, surly Ebenezer Scrooge receives a visit from the ghost of Marley, his late business partner, on Christmas eve, and he beholds a series of visions of the past, present, and future that make him decide to amend his ways…
‘After the success attained with A Christmas Carol in 1843 Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining what he called "the Carol philosophy" to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed. In typical Dickens fashion he drove his message home with a mixture of humour and good cheer’. [David Purdue].
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Price HK$ 20,000
1905-1907 - J.M. Dent and Co., London - First Editions to be Illustrated by Charles Brock in Colour
An attractive set of these classic seasonal tales, splendidly illustrated and presented in festive green and cranberry red bindings, all housed in a bespoke fleece-lined cloth slipcase with ribbon pull.Beginning with A Christmas Carol when old, surly Ebenezer Scrooge receives a visit from the ghost of Marley, his late business partner, on Christmas eve, and he beholds a series of visions of the past, present, and future that make him decide to amend his ways…
‘After the success attained with A Christmas Carol in 1843 Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining what he called "the Carol philosophy" to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed. In typical Dickens fashion he drove his message home with a mixture of humour and good cheer’. [David Purdue].
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Price HK$ 20,000
Cinderella - together with - The Sleeping Beauty -
C. S. Evans, Arthur Rackham (illustrator)
1919 - William Heinemann, London - First Rackham Illustrated Editions
Once upon a time...
A uniform large pair of Arthur Rackham’s only magical silhouette illustrated titles. In superior condition, with the original decorated paper boards and dust jackets.
The decorations and silhouette illustrations are in both black and white and in colour, adding a simple yet mystical air to these two classical fairy tales.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1919 - William Heinemann, London - First Rackham Illustrated Editions
Once upon a time... A uniform large pair of Arthur Rackham’s only magical silhouette illustrated titles. In superior condition, with the original decorated paper boards and dust jackets.
The decorations and silhouette illustrations are in both black and white and in colour, adding a simple yet mystical air to these two classical fairy tales.
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Price HK$ 12,000
The Wind in the Willows -
Kenneth Grahame, Ernest H. Shepard (illustrator)
1931 - Methuen &, London - First Edition with Shepard&rsquo
‘And you really live by The River? What a jolly life!’
‘By it and with it and on it and in it,’ said the Rat... ‘It’s my world, and I don’t want any other. What it hasn’t got is not worth having, and what it doesn’t know is not worth knowing.’
A superior example of the first edition to contain the classic and charming illustrations by Ernest Shepard, with his wonderful two page map endpapers at the front .
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Price HK$ 4,500
1931 - Methuen &, London - First Edition with Shepard&rsquo
‘And you really live by The River? What a jolly life!’ ‘By it and with it and on it and in it,’ said the Rat... ‘It’s my world, and I don’t want any other. What it hasn’t got is not worth having, and what it doesn’t know is not worth knowing.’
A superior example of the first edition to contain the classic and charming illustrations by Ernest Shepard, with his wonderful two page map endpapers at the front .
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Price HK$ 4,500
Collins Schoolgirls Annual -
Katherine L. Oldmeadow, Frances Cowen, V.M. Methley, S. G. Hedges and others.
Circa 1934 - Collins&rsquo, London and Glasgow
A bright copy in the rare dust jacket, with 38 stories for modern girls, memorable titles include The Cowgirl of Roaring Bull Ranch, Stella and the Stockings, What is Wrong with your Tennis?, and The Girls Do A Good Turn.
Profusely illustrated with five coloured and eight half-tone full page plates, together with colour and black and white vignettes throughout.
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Price HK$ 1,100
Circa 1934 - Collins&rsquo, London and Glasgow
A bright copy in the rare dust jacket, with 38 stories for modern girls, memorable titles include The Cowgirl of Roaring Bull Ranch, Stella and the Stockings, What is Wrong with your Tennis?, and The Girls Do A Good Turn.Profusely illustrated with five coloured and eight half-tone full page plates, together with colour and black and white vignettes throughout.
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Price HK$ 1,100
The Story of Ferdinand -
Munro Leaf, Robert Lawson (illustrator)
1936 - The Viking Press, New York - First Edition
A superior first edition of this high point in 20th century children's literature, in a better than usually encountered first issue dust jacket.
Ferdinand, the Bull who preferred to smell the flowers, quickly became popular, striking a chord of anti-fight in a world infected by war. Banned by Franco and burned in Nazi Germany. Translated into over 60 languages and made into an Oscar winning animated film by Disney in 1938.
‘Once upon a time in Spain there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand.’
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Price HK$ 55,000
1936 - The Viking Press, New York - First Edition
A superior first edition of this high point in 20th century children's literature, in a better than usually encountered first issue dust jacket.Ferdinand, the Bull who preferred to smell the flowers, quickly became popular, striking a chord of anti-fight in a world infected by war. Banned by Franco and burned in Nazi Germany. Translated into over 60 languages and made into an Oscar winning animated film by Disney in 1938.
‘Once upon a time in Spain there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand.’
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Price HK$ 55,000
The House at Pooh Corner -
A. A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard (illustrator)
1928 - Methuen &, London - First Edition
'Pooh looked at his two paws. He knew that one of them was the right, and he knew that when you had decided which one of them was the right, then the other one was the left, but he never could remember how to begin.'
An exceptionally fine first edition of A. A. Milne’s beloved children’s tale, the fourth in his series of Pooh books and the first in which Tigger makes an appearance.
Together with the scarce flyers for 1928 exhibition of the original drawings for ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ and an advertisement for the 1929 ‘Christopher Robin Calendar’, which would only have been included in this 1928 edition.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1928 - Methuen &, London - First Edition
'Pooh looked at his two paws. He knew that one of them was the right, and he knew that when you had decided which one of them was the right, then the other one was the left, but he never could remember how to begin.'An exceptionally fine first edition of A. A. Milne’s beloved children’s tale, the fourth in his series of Pooh books and the first in which Tigger makes an appearance.
Together with the scarce flyers for 1928 exhibition of the original drawings for ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ and an advertisement for the 1929 ‘Christopher Robin Calendar’, which would only have been included in this 1928 edition.
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Price HK$ 9,000
Five Children And It -
E. Nesbit
1902 - T. Fisher Unwin, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of this brilliant story exquisitely bound by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath, wonderfully enhanced with forty-six black and white illustrations by H. R. Millar.
Cyril, Athena, Robert, Jane, and baby brother, Lamb, are exploring the land around the house their parents have rented for the summer when they find the sandpit. They decide to dig a hole straight through to Australia. Their plan is interrupted when Athena discovers a magical creature hiding in the sand. It is a Psammead, and it can grant wishes.
‘The children stood around the hole looking at the creature they had found. It was worth looking at. Its eyes were on long horns like a snail's eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes; it had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider's and covered with thick soft fur; its legs and arms were furry too, and it had hands and feet like a monkey's.’
Psammead: I am a Sand Fairy!
Jane: A Sand Fairy? I thought fairies had little ballet dresses and wings and wands.
Psammead: What on earth have you been reading?
Jane: I'll call you Sandy.
Psammead: Why?
Jane: Because we found you in the sand.
Psammead: You're so funny. Have your parents tried boiling you?
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Price HK$ 12,500
1902 - T. Fisher Unwin, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of this brilliant story exquisitely bound by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath, wonderfully enhanced with forty-six black and white illustrations by H. R. Millar.Cyril, Athena, Robert, Jane, and baby brother, Lamb, are exploring the land around the house their parents have rented for the summer when they find the sandpit. They decide to dig a hole straight through to Australia. Their plan is interrupted when Athena discovers a magical creature hiding in the sand. It is a Psammead, and it can grant wishes.
‘The children stood around the hole looking at the creature they had found. It was worth looking at. Its eyes were on long horns like a snail's eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes; it had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider's and covered with thick soft fur; its legs and arms were furry too, and it had hands and feet like a monkey's.’
Psammead: I am a Sand Fairy!
Jane: A Sand Fairy? I thought fairies had little ballet dresses and wings and wands.
Psammead: What on earth have you been reading?
Jane: I'll call you Sandy.
Psammead: Why?
Jane: Because we found you in the sand.
Psammead: You're so funny. Have your parents tried boiling you?
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Price HK$ 12,500
The Magic Bed-Knob -
Mary Norton, Joan Kiddell-Monroe (illustrator)
1945 - J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London - First Edition
Finely bound and charmingly and profusely illustrated throughout in colour and black and white.
Three children are sent off to stay with an old Aunt in the countryside during WWII, which is where they bump into Miss Price, or more precisely she bumps into the ground trying to ride her, well you know where this is going so we shall not spoil the story for you, needless to say there is a magic bed.
The subtitle ‘Or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons’ was added to later editions. This is the first in a series of books that became the basis for the wonderful Disney musical ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1945 - J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London - First Edition
Finely bound and charmingly and profusely illustrated throughout in colour and black and white.Three children are sent off to stay with an old Aunt in the countryside during WWII, which is where they bump into Miss Price, or more precisely she bumps into the ground trying to ride her, well you know where this is going so we shall not spoil the story for you, needless to say there is a magic bed.
The subtitle ‘Or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons’ was added to later editions. This is the first in a series of books that became the basis for the wonderful Disney musical ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’.
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Price HK$ 3,000