The Snow Goose [*SIGNED*]

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Near Fine in Very Good dj. 1942. 13th printing. Hardcover. [minimal shelfwear, slight discoloration to gutters; the jacket is modestly edgeworn and lightly scuffed, with a 1.5-inch closed tear at the top right corner of the front panel, teensy bits of paper loss at the spine ends]. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the front endpaper: "To Rosemary King -- / with all good wishes / Paul Gallico." Gallico's "simple, short written parable on the regenerative power of friendship and love, set against a backdrop of the horror of war" (Wikipedia), is about the titular bird, wounded by a gunshot, who is nursed back to health by a disabled artist and a young local Essex girl, and culminates in the artist's heroic act of self-sacrifice during the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk. First published as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post in 1940, it was expanded somewhat for its publication in book form. It's been recorded numerous times (including several musical adaptations) and was filmed for BBC-TV in 1971 with Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter. In more recent times it's been acknowledged by author Michael Morpurgo as an influence on his novel "War Horse," which was in turn the basis for a wildly successful theatrical play. Signed by Author .