Books

First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the title page: "Mary Norton. Christmas 1959". This was the third book in Norton's classic Borrowers series, after the success of The Borrowers (1952) and The Borrower's Afield (1955). The series has been described as "the most notable use of miniature people in twentieth-century children's fantasy" (Moynihan, p. 144). "A minimalist approach to The Borrowers series is capable only of seeing a superficially cheerful and comic story about survival, tenacity and courage. It is undoubtedly such a story; but Mary Norton simultaneously gives her young readers a sober world-view of humanity doomed to loneliness and disappointment" (Watson, p. 120) Octavo. Original light blue boards, spine lettered in red, illustration to front board and spine in red. With dust jacket. Colour frontispiece and numerous illustrations in text by Diana Stanley. Spine ends faded, tiny spot on front cover, contents clean; jacket rubbed and creased at extremities, corners and spine ends chipped, short tear at foot of front panel, unclipped: a near-fine copy in very good jacket. T. William Moynihan, Master Works of Children's Literature, Vol. 8, 1983; Victor Watson, Reading Series Fiction, 2013.

The Borrowers is a children's fantasy novel by Mary Norton about tiny people who borrow items from humans to survive.