Books

London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957. First U.K. Edition. An association copy of the highest quality, inscribed to Bradbury's long-time friend, mentor, and literary agent Forrest Ackerman. It was Ackerman who introduced a teenage Bradbury to the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society, published Bradbury's first story in his fanzine Imagination, and who would urge Bradbury to pursue his writing, lending him money to publish his own fanzine, Futuria Fantasia. Barron, Fantasy Literature, 4A-44. First Impression. Octavo (20.5cm); maroon paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; [6],7-183,[1]pp. With a contemporary inscription to Forrest J. Ackerman on the front endpaper: "For Forry! Merry Christmas 1957! From his friend Ray Bradbury!" Faint scratch to upper edge of textblock, tiny bump to base of spine, else a fresh, very Near Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced 16s net), gently spine-sunned, with some trivial wear to extremities, and Ackerman's tiny…

Dandelion Wine is a 1957 novel by Ray Bradbury, taking place in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois, based upon Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois. The novel developed from the short story 'Dandelion Wine' which appeared in the June 1953 issue of Gourmet magazine. The book is essentially a series of loosely related, nostalgic vignettes about the protagonist Douglas Spaulding and his family and friends, and their experiences over the course of the summer.

One possible method to detect if a copy of 'Dandelion Wine' is a first edition is to check for the presence of '23' on page 239, and the publisher's address at that time 'Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York'.