Books

First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Rodney, who's got a lot of money! Terry Pratchett". The UK issue of the first Discworld novel is both preferred, and of considerably greater scarcity than the US issue, a fact Pratchett gestures towards in the inscription. St Martin's Press of New York printed 4,540 copies and exported 506 of these to the UK, where many sold to libraries. The UK jackets had no printed price but show Colin Smythe's £7.95 price sticker for first issue. Smythe observed inaccuracies in the printed blurb on the jacket front flap and corrected them before publication using a printed overlay. The UK issue was published on 24 November 1983, following US issue on 21 October. The Colour of Magic "changed the direction of the writer's work, the prologue shaping a brand new Narnia. The idea that a flat - disc - world could be carried on the backs of four giant elephants, which were in turn on the back of a giant interstellar turtle (not a tortoise), took a different planet out of the comfort zone of science fiction and placed it firmly into the Fantasy genre with a large capital F... The Discworld novels are multilayered and evocative, and that's why they have endured over 40 novels in nearly 30 years. Like The Lord of the Rings, Discworld has created its own history, laws, and legends, adding colour and light into what was a fading genre, which now, partly to Pratchett's credit and influence (and partly thanks to J. K. Rowling), is on the rise again" (Cabell, pp. 38-9). READ MORE Octavo. Original green boards, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket by Alan Smith, first issue with Smythe's price sticker and printed overlay on front flap. Light foxing to edges, contents clean; jacket bright, creases to upper ends and corners, foxing to verso, unclipped: a near-fine copy in like jacket. Craig Cabell, Terry Pratchett: The Spirit of Fantasy, 2011.