THE BOMB AND THE GENERAL; THE THREE ASTRONAUTS; THE GNOMES OF GNÙ

San Diego; Milan [Gnomes]: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; Bompiani [Gnomes], 1992. Fine.. First US editions of three philosophical children's books by Umberto Eco, each signed by him. In THE BOMB AND THE GENERAL, the atoms that fuel a belligerent general's atomic bomb go on strike, demoting the general to a doorman in order "to make use of his uniform with all the braid." In THE THREE ASTRONAUTS, rival astronauts from the United States, Russia, and China find common ground on Mars, where they overcome their prejudices and befriend a Martian they had intended to kill. In THE GNOMES OF GNÙ, a space explorer attempts to bring civilization to the planet of Gnù, whose peaceful inhabitants decline when they learn about the pollution and sickness rife on Earth. All three books feature ingenious mixed-media collages by the Italian abstractionist Eugenio Carmi. The first two, BOMB and ASTRONAUTS, appeared in Italian in 1966; the final title, GNOMES, followed in 1992. From 1989 to 1992, all three books were translated into English to capitalize on Eco's global reputation as the author of THE NAME OF THE ROSE (1980) and FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM (1988). A fine set, scarce signed by Umberto Eco. Three volumes, each 10.75'' x 8.25''. BOMB and ASTRONAUTS: Original color pictorial boards. In original pictorial dust jackets. GNOMES: Original white cloth boards lettered in red. In original color pictorial dust jacket. ALL: Color illustrations by Carmi throughout text. Each signed by Eco in ink. Jacket of BOMB clipped. Only a bit of light bumping here and there.