Wizard Boland, First Edition (12 results)

Paperback. Condition: Good. D J Watkins-Pitchford (illustrator). First Thus. This is a peperback version of one of BB's classic children's books.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. BB (illustrator). 1st Edition. BOUND IN GREEN CLOTH HARDCOVERS WITH BRIGHT, GILT TITLES TO SPINE, THIS DATED 1977 THIRD IMPRESSION BY KAYE AND WARD IN LONDON IS VG IN VG JACKET (UNCLIPPED). 125pp WITH 26 B/W DRAWINGS BY AUTHOR BB. CLEAN ENDPAPERS, MINOR BUMP TO ONE CORNER OF FRONT BOARD. BOTTOM CENTIMETER OF BOTH RETURN FLAPS HAS MINOR WATER STAIN, OTHERWISE VG/VG.

Hardback. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. D.J. Watkins-Pitchford ['B.B.'] (illustrator). First Edition. 1959. First edition. 128pp., a colour frontispiece, 26 full-page and many in-text black and white illustrations. 'BB' was a pen-name of Denys James Watkins-Pitchford MBE (1905-1990), a British naturalist, illustrator and children's author who won the 1942 Carnegie Medal for British children's books. He spent a great deal of time on his own, wandering through the fields, and developed a love of the outdoors, which was to influence his writing. The Wizard of Boland is a bewitching story about the Forest of Boland and the creatures who live there - scheming gnomes, black cats, dragons, cowzies, and, most exciting of all, the Wizard. The book is bound in the original light blue boards with red titling on the spine. The case of the book is in very good condition with bumping to the spine ends. There is slight browning on about 1/2" of the top edge of the front board and a patch of more noticeable browning to about 1/2" of the front half of the top of the spine and to about 1/8" of the bottom of the spine. There is slight fading on up to about 3/4" of the top and bottom edges of the rear board and bottom edge of the front board. There is some browning and foxing to the free endpapers but no inscription. The unclipped dustwrapper is in good to very good condition with shelf wear and some soiling, rubbing to the edges and a 1/4" hole on the rear fore edge. Small pieces are missing from the corners and about 1/2" is missing from the bottom of the spine. Large pieces of up to about 1" are missing from most of the top front and rear edges and the top of the spine.

Cloth. Condition: Very Good +. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. D J Watkins Pitchford (illustrator). First Edition. 1st Edition 1959. Uncommon. Illustrations by D J Watkins Pitchford. Book is very good++ with bright boards. Small name to endpaper. Nice clean contents. The wrapper is very good with nicks/small closed tears and rubbing to edges. A little chipping to spine top/board edge. Large price clipping to inner flap. More images can be taken upon request. Ref A1234.

Condition: New. ALL UK PARCELS SENT TRACKED! ALL OVERSEAS PARCELS SENT AIRMAIL, TRACKED! (S/hand, Hardcover, 1959). 1959 1st edition. Small 8vo (132 x 205mm). Pp128. Colour frontispiece and b/w illustrations by the author. Light blue cloth, spine titled in red. Abrasion and staining to boards, hinges tender, quite foxed. Good only. Lacks dust-wrapper. "The gnomes of the Forest of Boland are horrified to find a dragon sleeping in a cave near their village; but the wicked Wizard Homm is delighted to see the same dragon browsing among the willows in the forest because he needs some dragon's blood to work his best spells. But the Wizard's greed is his downfall." One of BB's delightful children's novels. Chapters include:- The wizard in his cave; A surprise for the gnomes; Wizard wizardry; A nasty situation; Dragon's blood; New friends and an old enemy; The book of spells; A chance of escape; The spell works; A prisoner again; Dragons don't forget; Conclusion. .

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Illustrated by Watkins-Pitchford, Denys (illustrator). First Edition; First Printing. Missing DJ, corners bumbed and rubbed, some water staining to front board, some foxing to endpapers, large pencil name to front endpaper, some illustrations carefully hand coloured inside. ; Pale blue cloth boards with red lettering to spine. Numerous line illustrations and colour frontis by author inside. ; B&W Illustrations; 128 pages; A delightful tale of wizards, gnomes, dragons and perhaps the occasional wombat.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. Blue boards with red lettering to the spine. Clipped jacket but also has a printed price of 10s 6d. Clean pages with some foxing on the text block edge. Jacket has some loss at the lower middle section. 1st edition.

Hardback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. BB, (illustrator). First edition. 1st 1959. Very good condition with no wrapper. Blue boards, red title to spine. Colour frontis. B/w illustrations. Spine is bumped and very browned. Some brown spotting and slight fade marks to covers. Foxing to endpapers and outer page edges. Packaged with care and promptly dispatched!

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. D. J. Watkins Pitchford (illustrator). 1st Edition. 128pp. Turquoise cloth w red title to spine. Some foxing to edges front panel. Colour frontispiece, otherwise illustrated in black and white. Just an occasional foxed spot mainly to edges o/w contents clean, tight and bright, a very nice copy.

Condition: Very Good +. Jacket Condition: Good ++. 1at Edition. 12.9 x 18.4 cm turquoise cloth with red stamped titles to the spine 128pp with a colour frontispiece and 26 full page black and white illustrations as called for and numerous drawings within the text. The book comes with its original jacket, clipped but with the 10s 6d net price still showing and with two Monty Woodpig stories advertised on the rear flap The book is very good with a little bruising to the corners and a hint of toning to the spine. Internally clean, without inscription or bookplate although there is evidence of a long erased ownership name on the front free endpaper, and just one or two very small handling marks. The hard to find dust jacket, which is now protected in a removable, clear cover (not shown), is a little creased on the edges with small losses of up to 0.6 cm on the spine tips and corners. There are a number of short closed tears on the top and bottom edges of between 0.5 and 1 cm and some marking to and rubbing to the edge of the rear flap where a previous dust jacket cover was attached with tape, however, it is in much better condition than is usually found. All in all a very good, First Edition copy of this charming BB children's story. Rainford & Parris Books welcomes enquiries, so please do not hesitate to ask if you require further images or have any questions. All books are packaged with great care.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. The First UK Printing published by Edmund Ward (Publishers) Limited, London in 1959. 8vo., bright blue linson boards lettered in red vertically along the backstrip; together in the original unclipped pictorial wrapper illustrated by the author (9s. 6d. net); coloured frontis, along with numerous other black and white illustrations throughout the text, including title vignette, full-page captioned plates, chapter headings and tailpieces; The BOOK is in Very Good+ condition with some light markings to boards and sunning to the spine tips; endpapers faintly offset and spotted, previous ownership inscription in blue biro to the front free endpaper. Some spotting to edges, sometimes extending into the page margins due to the quality of the paper stock used; lightly cracked at the gutter of title page, with webbing beneath just beginning to show, but the binding remains tight; The WRAPPER is in Very Good condition lightly and evenly toned, rubbed, creased and nicked along folds and more-so to the spine, with small losses to the head and some long surface creases; several closed tears (max 2.5cm in length) internally repaired with tape. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. A story of good and evil, The Wizard of Boland centres around a group of gnomes who one day discover a dragon sleeping on a pile of gold in a cave near their village. While they are horrified by the discovery, the wizard Homm is delighted - he requires dragon's blood for his spells. Overcome by greed, he sets out to get his prize. Denys Watkins-Pitchford first found fame with The Little Grey Men (1942), a work which first features the appearance of gnomes (there named Sneezewort, Baldmoney and Dodder). The author was first inspired to write about these 'little people' at the age of four, when he was profoundly changed after looking out of his nursery window to see, incontrovertibly, a gnome in his garden. From that day forward he maintained a belief in fairy-folk, and over the course of his life he published a huge number of children's stories on the theme of fantasy, many featuring witches and wizards along with his own charming illustrations. He was also a lifetime lover of the countryside, and his stories, combined with an intimate and unsentimental knowledge of animals, birds and plants, remain popular today. Very scarce with the wrapper. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.

Orig. Cloth. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Denys Watkins-Pitchford (illustrator). 1st. col. frontis., b.w. illus. by the author, pp.128. Light foxing to prelims. and top and fore-edges otherwise a very good copy in d.w. which is protected by a removable clear film sleeve. Size: 8vo.