'No pencil at work to-day is so graceful, whimsical and human as his.'
The Wind in the Willows
Methuen, 1931.
First edition illustrated by E.H. Shepard. 8vo. Original dark green cloth with gilt vignettes on upper cover and titles on the spine. Pictorial dustwrapper with Shepard's line drawings in navy blue. Pictorial endpapers by Shepard. Top edge green. Illustrated with Shepard's distinctive line drawings throughout. A near fine copy with a light bump to the base of both boards, in a very good dustwrapper indeed with some tanning to the spine and a little wear with a tiny chip to the head of the spine.
Grahame's children's classic was originally published in 1908 with no illustrations in the text. Although the work was subsequently published with illustrations 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 the fame of Grahame's characters owes much to Shepard's popular illustrations.
Stock ID: 47179
£1,500.00
