Comet In Moominland : With The Scarce Wrapper

The First UK printing published by Ernest Benn, London in 1951. The BOOK is in Very Good+ condition. Publisher's original yellow cloth boards with red designs and titling. Some light pushing at the spine ends and tiny bumping at the lower front corner. Some light age related markings to the boards. Mild toning and spotting to the text-block. Internally free from inscriptions; Some light spotting and offsetting to the blank-endpapers with a small area of erasure to the lower inner quadrant of the blank end-paper. A neat bookseller sticker to the lower front pastedown. Internally as usually encountered, there is some light spotting to the pages edges with some more moderate spotting in places, due to the cheap quality of the paper stock used. A small 0.5cm closed tear to the lower edge of page 176 and a small ovoid area (1.5 x 0.5 cm) of loss to the blank lower edge of page 181 (see images). The scarce WRAPPER is neatly price-clipped and is in Very Good+ condition. A little loss, rubbing and creasing at the spine ends. A 5cm closed tear to the upper rear flap. Light edge-wear with a few nicks and slight losses at the corners. Some age related markings and spotting in places. Slight toning to the spine with some light fading of the red lettering. The wrapper artwork by Tove Jansson remains very striking in the removable Brodart archival cover. Despite the above issues, this remains a very attractive copy. By far, the scarcest of the Moomin titles to find in any condition. The second in Tove Jansson's series of 'Moomin' books. Profusely illustrated in B/W by the author. Published in 1946, it marks the first appearance of several main characters, such as Snufkin and the Snork Maiden. The English translation, published in 1951 is a translation of the first version of Jansson's book, which she was later to revise. The revised version was published in 1968. It contains a number of minor differences; for instance, the Silk Monkey character is changed to a kitten. Collectible. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.