Gremlins by Roald Dahl (59 results)

Condition: Good. Artists And Writers Guild (illustrator). Good condition. This is the average used book, that has all pages or leaves present, but may include writing. Book may be ex-library with stamps and stickers.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Pictorial boards. Covers rubbed and worn. Edges also very worn; in places, worn to the boards, especially at corners. A 4 inch tear to one page, two smaller tears elsewhere. Library stamp on front endpaper. Inscription in ink on half title. Overall good condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Artists And Writers Guild (illustrator). The author's first book. Color and black and white illustrations throughout. Introduction by Leonard Maltin. A reissue of the 1943 edition, first printing thus. Near fine in a near fine (short closed edge tear on the rear panel) wrap-around band.

Condition: Good. New York: Random House, 1943. 4to. Unpaginated. Illus. Good book. Spine ends frayed and chipped; joints slightly torn at tail. Boards rubbed and edgeworn; corners frayed. Textblock detached. Small tear to front pastedown at lower stitch. Inquire if you need further information.

[Movie Memorabilia] ORIGINAL LOBBY CARDS. A set of eight lobby cards from the film 'Gremlins' directed by Joe Dante, with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer. Colour lithographic images on heavy stock measuring 28 x 36cm, with production credits to a white banner at foot. A fine set. Note on Format: the Lobby Card is a small poster or titled still printed on card stock, usually 8 x 10 inches (UK and Europe) or 11 x 14 inches (US) in a landscape view. Generally produced in sets of eight in colour for Britain and America, intended for display in a cinema foyer or lobby.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Illustrated by Walt Disney. Red front cover, yellow cloth spine, grey back cover. Front cover has been drawn on, corners badly rubbed, spine grubby but intact, back cover badly rubbed in one corner (see photo). Contents clean and tight but beginning of wear to hinges. Dirt on back endpaper. From the library of Clive King, the Gremlins appear again in his "Sound of Propellers".

Hardcover. Dust Jacket Condition: No dust jacket. Illustrations (Color) (illustrator). First Edition, 1st Printing. unpaiginated Moderate wear to extremities and boards else very good condition. Binding sound. Unusually solid copy of this fragile book. Roald Dahl's first book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good +. BOOKS COLLECTABLEVERY SCARCE! Roald Dahl's first book.First Edition in remarkably good, clean condition.Used copies of the first edition book are highly prized and sought after byÂcollectorsÂof bothÂRoald Dahl's works andÂDisney's; these copies may be valued anywhere between US$100 and US$10,000. [48] p. : ill. (part col.) ; 27 cm. First Edition Rubbing to side and bottom rh corner of covers. Please contact seller for additional detailed images The GremlinsÂis aÂchildren's bookÂwritten by British authorÂRoald Dahl and published in 1943.ÂIn writing the book, Dahl draws on his own experience as aÂRoyal Air ForceÂ(RAF) pilot during the Second World War. The story's principal character Gus, an RAF pilot, has hisÂHawker HurricaneÂdestroyed over the English Channel by aÂgremlinâ "mischievous creatures who were part of RAF folklore. As they parachute into the water, Gus convinces the gremlins to join forces against a common enemy; Hitler and the Nazis. It was Dahl's first book and was written forÂWalt Disney Productions, in anticipation of a feature-length animated film that was never made.With Dahl's assistance, a series of gremlin characters were developed, and while pre-production had begun, the film project was eventually abandoned, in part because the studio could not establish the precise rights of the "gremlin" story, and in part because theÂBritish Air MinistryÂwas heavily involved in the production because Dahl, who was on leave from his wartime Washington posting, insisted on final approval of script and production. Dahl incorporates a Hawker HurricaneÂ(which as a Royal Air Force pilot he flew during WWII) into the storyThe story concerns mischievousÂmythicalÂcreatures, theÂgremlinsÂof the title, often invoked byÂRoyal Air ForceÂpilots as an explanation of mechanical troubles and mishaps.ÂIn Dahl's book, the gremlins' motivation for sabotaging British aircraft is revenge of the destruction of their forest home, which was razed to make way for an aircraft factory.The principal character in the book, Gus, has hisÂHawker HurricaneÂfighter destroyed over theÂEnglish ChannelÂby a gremlin during theÂBattle of Britain, but is able to convince the gremlins as they parachute into the water that they should join forces against a common enemy,ÂHitlerÂand theÂNazis, rather than fight each other.Eventually, the gremlins are re-trained by the Royal Air Force to repair rather than sabotage aircraft, and restore Gus to active flight status after a particularly severeÂcrash.ÂThe book also contains picturesque details about the ordinary lives of gremlins: baby gremlins, for instance, are known as widgets, and females asÂfifinellas, a name taken from the great "flying" filly racehorseÂFifinella, that won both theÂEpsom DerbyÂandÂEpsom OaksÂin 1916, the year Dahl was born.The publication ofÂThe GremlinsÂby Random House consisted of a 50,000 run for the U.S. marketÂwith Dahl ordering 50 copies for himself as promotional material, handing them out to everyone he knew, including the British Ambassador in WashingtonÂLord Halifax, and the First Lady of the U.S.ÂEleanor Roosevelt, who loved to read it to her grandchildren. The book was considered an international success with 30,000 more sold in Australia but initial efforts to reprint the book were precluded by a wartime paper shortage. Reviewed in major publications, Dahl was considered a writer-of-note and his appearances in Hollywood to follow up with the film project were met with notices in Hedda Hopper's columns.Facing copyright problems and realising that the Air Ministry's "Clause 12" in the original film contract would restrict the studio,ÂWalt Disney, who had a personal interest inÂThe Gremlins, reluctantly began to "wind down" the project. By August 1943, Disney had even reconsidered an animated "short" based onÂThe GremlinsÂand indicated to Dahl by correspondence that further work would not continue. After a year of story conferences and related research, Dahl realised that his book would be the only tangible product emanating from the aborted film.[2]The story of gremlins appeared in Issues #33-#41 ofÂWalt Disney's Comics and StoriesÂpublished byÂWalt Disney ProductionsÂbetween June 1943 and February 1944; it contained a nine-episode series of short, silent stories featuring a Gremlin Gus as their star. The first was drawn by Vivie Risto and the rest of them byÂWalt Kelly. This served as their introduction to theÂcomic bookÂaudience. These comics were subsequently reprinted in 1987 by Gladstone Publishing Ltd.[7] Used copies of the first edition book are highly prized and sought after byÂcollectorsÂof bothÂRoald Dahl's works andÂDisney's; these copies may be valued anywhere between US$100 and US$10,000.InÂWarner Bros.'ÂFalling Hare,ÂBugs BunnyÂtries to prevent the wrecking of an American military aircraft by a gremlin."Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", a 1963ÂTwilight ZoneÂepisode, starringÂWilliam Shatner, is a homage to the legend of gremlins, one being seen dismantling an airliner during flight. The role was played byÂJohn LithgowÂin theÂ1983 film.In the bookÂMyth Conceptions, from theÂMythAdventuresÂseries,ÂRobert AsprinÂdescribes a gremlin as a small, blue-skinned creature that has a tendency to vanish when the viewer's attention is distracted.The 1984 filmÂGremlins, produced byÂSteven SpielbergÂand directed byÂJoe Dante, is loosely inspired by Dahl's characters, featuring evil and destructive monsters which mutate from small furry creatures."Treehouse of Horror IV",ÂThe Simpsons'Âepisode 5 of season 5, includes a segment involving Gremlins called "Terror atÂ5+1â 2ÂFeet" â " itself an allusion to theÂTwilight ZoneÂepisode.In September 2006,ÂDark Horse ComicsÂpublishedÂThe Gremlins: The Lost Walt Disney Production, a faithfully restored and updated version ofÂThe GremlinsÂincluding an introduction by acclaimed film historianÂLeonard MaltinÂas well as creating a series of Gremlin-inspired toys and figurines, that were patterned after the original Da.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition, First Printing. 48p. A large hardcover book with a red cloth spine and pictorial boards. Good+ condition. Slits forming in the cloth on the spine and edges of boards are visibly rubbed. Small scuffs here and there on the surfaces of the boards, due to years of normal shelf wear. Early owner's signature on front endpaper. Scattered foxing, all fairly mild, plus occasional small spots and blemishes on the pages; otherwise, text clean and binding tight. The first edition of Roald Dahl's first book, a children's story based on his experiences as an RAF pilot. The story was originally intended to serve as the basis for an animated Disney feature film, but the film was never made. Measures approx. 11.25" x 9".

First Edition. THE GREMLINS, Ayers & James, 1943, first Australian edition, some wear to the fore edges, else a vg copy bound in the publishers original color pictorial boards (just like the American edition). Illustrated in both color and black and white. Roald Dahl's first book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Finely bound in black morroco with gilt title to front board. Gilt borders to front and rear boards. Five raised bands to spine with gilt emblems to each compartment. Housed in custom made slipcase with silk ribbon. First English Edition. Original yellow pictorial end papers bound in, which show slight fading and a couple of marks. Internally the pages are a little age toned with an occasional marks but generally very clean and bright. Illustrations are all present and in good order.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Finely bound in black morroco with gilt title to front board. Gilt borders to front and rear boards. Five raised bands to spine with gilt emblems to each compartment. Housed in custom made slipcase with silk ribbon. First American Edition. Original yellow pictorial endpapers bound in, which show slight fading and a couple of marks. Internally the pages are a little age toned with an occasional mark but generally very clean and bright. Illustrations are all present and in good order.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. Disney, Walt (Studios) (illustrator). 1st Edition. Fair copy of this first children's book from Flight Lieutenant, Roald Dahl. Original jacket complete, though torn 2/3 of the way up the front panel, from spine through the "G" in Gremlins. Wear to edges, and a small chip from the bottom edge of front panel. The Jacket has also been price clipped. The book is fair with front hinge separated at ffep, scuffing to edges of boards and tanning to pages. Overall a serviceable copy of a scarce book in jacket. 4to - over 9ľ - 12" tall.

Hardcover. First edition. Slim quarto [28.5 cm] Color illustrated boards. Rubbing to the head and foot of the boards. Contemporary gift inscription on the front free endpaper. About very good in like jacket. Restoration to jacket. Faint ghost impressions to the panel. $1.00 price on front flap. A Royal Air Force Story. A first edition of Dahl's first book. Dahl's story emphasizes the hazards of being in the Royal Air Force.

Softcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. A rare Proof copy of Dahl's first work. Original plain brown wrappers. Contents appears to be the same as for the final published UK first except the endpapers (with the correct red and yellow illustrations) are included as four leaves (2 front and rear) rather than pasted to the hard covers. The last text leaf has some colouring in to the black and white illustrated characters, seemingly with water based paint, several other leaves have very faint occasional pencil shading, but generally the condition is extremely good, with solid bright illustrations. The paper wrappers have a chip to the foot of the spine and minor creasing.A rare proof, distributed by the publisher to families with children to test market the book. Possibly only a dozen or so were made up.

Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. Walt Disney Artists (illustrator). First Edition. Oversize 9" x 11 1/4" design. Red pictorial boards with bold yellow titles, black spine titles on brick red cloth spine wrap, moderate corner wear, rub. Cover depicts the gremlins at work destroying an RAF fighter plane at front; back cover features similar vignette, hand drill and saw in hand on rear wing. Yellow endpapers feature monochromatic red collage scenes of the horned gremlins playfully using their tools of pickaxe, bombs, oil cans, saws, hammers, etc. with silhouette planes in b.g. Pages very good, clean; no writing. Bind good; hinges intact. Scarce sharp first edition with moderate wear. A whimsical tale of devilish imps creating aerial havoc for the Allied Forces in the skies of WWII. Full page color designs throughout, with b&w illustrations, partial-page imagery and vignettes. Roald Dahl was sent to Washington DC in 1942 as an assistant air attache for the British Embassy. After having a story published anonymously in the Saturday Evening Post, he was encouraged by C. S. Forester to pursue his writing talent. He then wrote The Gremlins, a children's story expanding on a mythical creature enshrined for years in RAF lore, although Dahl claims to have invented the word himself. He sent short story to Sidney Bernstein, the head of the British Information Service, who forwarded it on to Walt Disney. Disney decided to make it into a movie, at one point bringing Dahl to Hollywood for the screenplay. The story was published in Cosmopolitan in December of 1942, and as a book by Random House six months later. The film, however, was sidelined and was never produced. The Gremlins was well received and Eleanor Roosevelt read it to her grandchildren, and even invited Roald to the White House. Apprx. 75 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9ľ" - 12" tall.

1st edition. 4to. Unpaginated circa 28pp. 13 single & 1 double page colour plate + numerous bw illustrations in text. Red paper covered boards, beige cloth spine, yellow lettering + Spitfire aeroplane with 3 little funny creatures on wings on front. Original yellow decorated eps. Covers : shelf knock front top edge, rubs front corners, slight rubs rear corners, tiny hole in fold of spine, slight mark front else very clean& complete. Contents : faintest fox marks to eps else very clean & tight Very clean complete copy. VG.

Condition: Very Good. New York: Random House, 1943. 1st U.S. edition. 4to pictorial hardcover. Unpaginated. B/W and color llustrations. Very Good book and Fair dust jacket. Board edges and corners a just bit worn. The date "8-28-43" in ink to the upper right corner of the front pastown, small and neatly printed, and with the bookplate of "J. Rommel" the lower left. Lighltly toned. The dust jacket, in a protective mylar cover, is a bit edgeworn with chipped spine tips and a 2" tear to the center. A very nice copy! (Juvenile, Fantasy, Great Britain, Royal Air Force, Fighter Pilots, World War II) Inquire if you need further information.

Quarter Cloth and Boards. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. First Edition (US). [52], original quarter cloth and boards in DJ, decorative endpapers. DJ chipped to spine ends with loss to head and more seriously to the foot, creased and slightly chipped to edges and spine, corners chipped. Inner joints repaired with cloth, text is quite bright and clean. The first edition with the correct price of $1.00 to DJ (BMC April 2002) Size: 4to.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition. This is the TRUE FIRST EDITION published by Random House, 1943. This First Issue dustjacket has wear to the spine and edges with several close tears. The book is in nice condition. The boards have some wear to the spine and edges. The pages are clean with a previous owner's name nicely written on the front endpaper. There is NO marks or bookplates in the book. A collectable copy at a reduced price with the ORIGINAL scarce dustjacket.

First edition, first printing. DW. Slim 4to. Original pictorial boards with same artwork as wrapper. Busy gremlins attacking silhouette aircraft illustrate the endpapers. 12 full coloured plates, 1 double page coloured plate and numerous b/w drawings from the Walt Disney Studio. Loosely inserted is an autograph letter signed, on Dahl's Gypsy House headed paper, dated 27/9/90 [two months before the author dies] It states "Dear Mr Martin, Thank you for your letter. I will buy your 'Gremlins' copy. Here's my cheque. Yours Roald Dahl". This is a very attractive and bright copy of Dahl's first book. The film was never made for various and complicated reasons so we only have the book that was produced to promote it. The contents are clean and complete with no inscriptions or stamps, the boards are a little rubbed at extremities, especially at the lower edge. VG+ in a bright and complete wrapper, not price clipped (the original price of $1 is at the top of the front flap), the wrapper has sl. signs of rubbing to extremities with a few close tears to upper edge of front panel with associated creases. A lovely copy of a scarce item.

First edition, sole printing; 4to (28.6 x 23 cm); colour frontispiece, 11 full-page colour illustrations and one double-page colour illustration, plain line illustrations throughout, pictorial patterned endpapers; publisher's red cloth-backed pictorial boards, minor chaffing along the bottom edge of the boards but a superb copy in the somewhat frayed, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple of very minor chips. A very smart first edition copy of Roald Dahl's first book The Gremlins, a collaborative effort with Disney for a feature-length animation which, in part due to copyright issues revolving around the 'gremlin' characters, never took off. Fortunately the planes and Air Force pilots featured in the story had better luck getting off the ground, but only to be subsequently plagued by these mischievous sprites with mechanical failures and worse. Laid into this copy is a black and white photograph of an animator and Walt Disney looking at some of the concept art for the abandoned movie upon which this book was based.

First Edition. THE GREMLINS, Random House, 1943, first edition, upper fore edge corner tips gently bumped, light wear to the lower fore edge corner tips, rubbing and light wear to the bottom board edges, else a bright vg+ copy in a vg dust-wrapper with some modest wear and tear and chipping. Profusely illustrated in full color. Roald Dahl's first book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Included. 1st Edition. Random House: NY (1943). Color illus, 11 x 9", cloth backed pict boards, unpaged, most pp with clean short tears at bottom, eps spotted, ink inscription, stamped dates & two labels on rep, one bottom edge with very minor stain, in torn, worn, chipped but very scarce dw. Dahl was a Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant at this time. FIRST EDITION OF AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 1st Australian edition, Sydney: Ayres [sic] and James: Copyright 1943 by Walt Disney Productions) Printed in Australia by Shepherd and Newman. Autographed by Roald Dahl. Dahl's first book. Illustrated with 13 full page (one double page) color plates and black and white drawings by the Walt Disney Studio throughout the text. 29 cm. Inscribed, "Love from Roald Dahl". Roald Dahl Foundation book plate (established by Dahl's widow after her husband's death in 1990. Housed in gorgeous custom made red leather clam shell case with inlaid Gremlins on front. Some restoration work done to binding. Lacking dust jacket. Roald Dahl served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot and Wing Commander. In 1940 Dahl's plane was hit by a machine gun fire and he was severely injured. He was sent to the United States as an attache while secretly working for British Secret Service to elicit American support for the British war effort. "His wartime experiences led him to write The Gremlins, a fantasy about a race of tiny people who live in Air Force planes and cause all the technical troubles that pilots experience; the story was serialized in Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1942 and the film rights were bought by Disney, though filming never took place" (The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature). According to Penguin Press, the book "caught Eleanor Roosevelt's eye and Roald became a not infrequent guest at the White House and FDR's weekend retreat, Hyde Park.

First edition of Dahlâ s rare first book, with 14 vibrant full-page illustrations by Walt Disney Productions. Quarto, original half cloth, pictorial endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by Disney animator Bill Justice on the half-title page with a large drawing of a Gremlin, "Sorry Ray That's a lousy Gremlin Bill Justice." Justice joined Walt Disney Studios as an animator in 1937 and worked on such features as Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. He is arguably best known as the animator of the rabbit Thumper from Bambi and chipmunks Chip 'n Dale. He was the director of The Truth About Mother Goose, Noah's Ark, and A Symposium On Popular Songs, all of which were nominated for Academy Awards as Best Short Subject, Cartoon. In total, Justice worked on 57 shorts and 19 features. Good in the rare original dust jacket with some chips and wear. Dahl was sent to Washington in 1942 as an assistant air attachĂ for the British Embassy. After having a story published anonymously in the Saturday Evening Post, he was encouraged by C. S. Forester. He produced The Gremlins, a childrenâ s story expanding on a mythical creature enshrined for years in RAF lore (notwithstanding Dahlâ s claims to have invented the word) and sent it to Sidney Bernstein, the head of the British Information Service, who sent it on to Walt Disney. Disney decided to make it into a movie, at one point bringing Dahl to Hollywood to work on the screenplay. The story was published in Cosmopolitan in December of 1942, and as a book by Random House six months later. The film project, however, was sidelined and has never been produced. The story was received positively: Eleanor Roosevelt read it to her grandchildren, and invited Dahl to the White House.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing. This ORIGINAL UNRESTORED dustjacket is rich in color with light wear to the spine and edges. The book is in great shape. The binding is tight with light wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A sharp copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION with NO restoration.

First edition, first printing, of the author's first book. As noted by the dust jacket blurb, "Everybody has heard about the gremlins, the fantastic Little People whose antics have become one of the great legends of the R.A.F." The book was written as a promotional device for a feature-length Disney animation that was never produced, partly because the studio could not establish firm copyright in the "gremlin" characters (Dahl claimed to have invented them, though they had been common currency in the RAF and had appeared in print at least once before), and partly because the British Air Ministry wanted final approval of the script and production. It was eventually agreed that royalties would be split between the RAF Benevolent Fund and Dahl. The book is described on the title and the front cover as being "From the Walt Disney Production"; the Disney studio would write to Dahl in August 1943 after publication cancelling any further preproduction work. Quarto. Original red cloth-backed illustrated boards, spine lettered in black, yellow and red pictorial endpapers. With dust jacket. Coloured illustrations throughout. Edges a little worn; dust jacket worn at extremities with some minor loss and tears, some minor colour restoration, minor adhesive tape repairs to reverse, spine slightly sunned, price-clipped; a very good copy in a very good jacket.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing. A wonderful copy. This First Issue dustjacket is rich in color with some repair. The book is in great shape with minor wear to the boards. The pages are clean with light wear. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A lovely copy housed in a custom clamshell slipcase for preservation.

First Edition. First Edition. From the Walt Disney Production. A Royal Air Force Story by Flight Lieutenant Roald Dahl. 12 full-page color illustrations, one double-page, and text illustrations in black and white tbroughout. 1 vols. 4to. Dahl's First Book. Quarter cloth and pictorial board in pictorial dust jacket, loose at fore-edge, else almost fine From the Walt Disney Production. A Royal Air Force Story by Flight Lieutenant Roald Dahl. 12 full-page color illustrations, one double-page, and text illustrations in black and white tbroughout. 1 vols. 4to.