THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN

New York: Harper & Row, 1970. First edition. Fine in fine jacket.. Gorgeous first printing of White's classic children's book. The third of White's novels for children, following CHARLOTTE'S WEB and STUART LITTLE; first published in the U.S., also in 1970. Like its predecessors, THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN follows a lonely but intrepid creature set apart from the rest of the animal world and halfway human. The voiceless swan Louis, named for Louis Armstrong, learns to play the trumpet, read and write, and get a job, before leaving most - but not all - of his acquired trappings of civilization behind to return to the wilderness. Highly praised by John Updike, who wrote that the book "glows with the primal ecstasies of space and flight, of night and day, of nurturing and maturing, of courtship and art... The universe remains chancy, but no one admits to having good luck. We, and our children, are lucky to have this book." 7.75'' x 5''. Original gilt-stamped blue cloth. In original price-clipped pictorial dust jacket with "0670" printed on front flap. Paragraph from 1970 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award Committee printed on rear flap above paragraph by Virginia Haviland. Green and silver Children's Spring Festival Book World 1970 Honor Book seal to front cover. Illustrated in black and white by Edward Frascino. Rear number line to 1. 210, [6] pages. Single vertical crease to fore-edge only of page 125-126. Cloth faintly sunned at top edge. A few very light scuffs to jacket.