Books

First British edition, first impression, of the author's first book. The book was first published in the US in 1943. Writing in 2006, the Disney historian Leonard Maltin described the volume as "a milestone" and a "charming book". The book was written as a promotional device for a feature-length Disney animation that was never produced, partly because the studio could not establish firm copyright in the "gremlin" characters (Dahl claimed to have invented them, although they had been common currency in the RAF and had appeared in print at least once before), and partly because the British Air Ministry wanted final approval of the script and production. It was eventually agreed that royalties would be split between the RAF Benevolent Fund and Dahl. The book is described on the title and the front cover as being "From the Walt Disney Production"; the Disney studio would write to Dahl in August 1943 after American publication cancelling any further preproduction work. Quarto. Original cloth-backed boards, red pictorial front cover lettered in yellow and black, unlettered grey rear cover, red and yellow pictorial endpapers. Issued without dust jacket. Colour frontispiece, 12 full-page colour illustrations (including one double-page illustration), numerous black and white illustrations in text. Worn at extremities, some light abrasions to front cover, minor split at head of front hinge, internally clean: a very good copy. Leonard Maltin, "The Gremlins Got 'Em" in Roald Dahl, The Gremlins, 2006.

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.