An increasingly scarce title to find in any collectible condition

Norton, Mary ~ Bonfires and Broomsticks

First UK Printing : J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London : 1947

8vo., pale blue cloth, lettered in dark blue to upper board and backstrip, featuring the emblem of a witch aboard a broom in orange to the centre of upper board; striking decorative yellow endpapers; vignette to title page echoing the upper board; with 26 captioned black and white sketches throughout by Mary Adshead; together in the unclipped illustrated wrapper (7s. 6d. net); THE BOOK a lovely, bright, near Fine copy, the boards a touch splayed with some minor rubbing to the cloth at the edges; a couple of very light spots to the endpapers; the Very Good+ or better WRAPPER, which has done a fine job of preserving the boards beneath, lightly spotted at folds and lower panel; with two small patches of worming causing a little loss to the lower flap fold; spine ends a little chipped at ends; one small closed tear (1cm long) to front panel; Some spotting to the lower rear panel and olds. The wrapper is unrestored and is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First edition, following on from the author’s previous book, 'The Magic Bedknob'; or, 'How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons' (published in 1944). Together, the two works formed the original story for the now-famous children’s film 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks', which was adapted by Disney in 1971. 'The Magic Bedknob' followed the story of three children; Carey, Charles and Paul, who discover that their neighbour, Miss Price, is a witch. In exchange for their silence, the spinster casts a spell on their bed so that when the bedknob is turned, it will fly them wherever they wish to go. Three years later, Norton published this, the sequel, which picks up with the three children travelling back to stay with Miss Price, and this time adventuring back to the reign of King Charles III. There, they meet a friendly and slightly confused sorcerer named Emilius and bring him back with them to the twentieth century. Norton is perhaps best remembered today for her stories about 'The Borrowers', a series of novels about a family of tiny people who live secretly in the walls and beneath the floorboards of an English home, and ‘borrow’ bits and pieces from the inhabitants in order to survive. For the first in the series, she won the Carnegie Medal in the year of publication for her outstanding contribution to Children’s Literature. An increasingly scarce title to find in any collectible condition, more-so with the wrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Very Good +