Books

First edition, sole printing; 4to (28.6 x 23 cm); colour frontispiece, 11 full-page colour illustrations and one double-page colour illustration, plain line illustrations throughout, pictorial patterned endpapers, with additional black & white photographic print (image size: 288 x 143mm, sheet size 305 x 202mm); publisher's red cloth-backed pictorial boards, minor chaffing along the bottom edge of the boards but a superb copy in the somewhat frayed, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple of very minor chips. A very smart first edition copy of Roald Dahl's first book The Gremlins, a collaborative effort with Walt Disney for a feature-length film which was originally planned to include live-action and animation. Although Dahl's collaboration with Walt Disney in Burbank was successful, wht the book appearing in 1943, by then the public were growing tired of war-related films and the project was shelved. This was also due to copyright issues revolving around the 'gremlin' characters, since they were not an original creation (RAF pilots referred to them throughout WWII). Fortunately the planes and Air Force pilots featured in the story had better luck getting off the ground, but only to be subsequently plagued by these mischievous sprites with mechanical failures and worse. Laid into this copy is a black and white photograph of Walt Disney, with one of his team literally knelling at his feet, looking at a story board with concept artwork.

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.