Books

New York: Random House, 1943. First edition of Dahl’s rare first book, with 14 vibrant full-page illustrations by Walt Disney Productions. Quarto, original half cloth, pictorial endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page in the year of publication, "To Tim xxx from Roald Dahl 19/6/43 There should be a bowler hat and a tail." Dahl has added a drawing of a hat and a tail on the gremlin. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed in the year of publication. Dahl was sent to Washington in 1942 as an assistant air attaché for the British Embassy. After having a story published anonymously in the Saturday Evening Post, he was encouraged by C. S. Forester. He produced The Gremlins, a children’s story expanding on a mythical creature enshrined for years in RAF lore (notwithstanding Dahl’s claims to have invented the word) and sent it to Sidney Bernstein, the head of the British Information Service, who sent it on to Walt…

The Gremlins is a children's book, written by Roald Dahl and published in 1943. It was Dahl's first children's book and was written for Walt Disney Productions, as a promotional device for a feature-length animated film that was never made. With Dahl's engaging storytelling and charming illustrations, the book introduces the concept of gremlins as mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions in British Royal Air Force aircraft.