A Wrinkle in Time

Octavo, 211pp. First printing, stated, in the first-issue dust jacket, with no Newbery medal. A very good copy, with the spine gently cocked, light foxing to endpapers, a stray ink mark to leaf preceding the title page, and a small, faint stain on the top edge near the crown. Inner hinges tender, but holding. The dust jacket, designed by Ellen Raskin, presents beautifully, with a few modest and non-invasive archival repairs to the front flap fold and spine ends, including some gentle color fill-in; very good. "A Wrinkle in Time" is consistently cited as one of the greatest young adult science fiction/fantasy novels ever written. An unusually dark and existential young adult novel for its time, with a bold portrayal of evil and its young protagonists struggling with their purpose and their virtues, the story has resonated with teenage (and adult) readers since its appearance in 1962. By L'Engle's own count, the novel was rejected by at least 26 publishers before her agent ultimately returned the manuscript to her. Though she had been a modestly successful writer up to that point, she was considering closing the door on her writing career when, by a chance coincidence, she had the opportunity through an acquaintance to present the manuscript to John C. Farrar of Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, who loved the novel, and agreed to publish it under the Ariel imprint. "A Wrinkle in Time" won the 1963 Newbery Medal, and has never gone out of print. The first printing was undoubtedly small, and as with most debut young adult novels, a significant number of these ended up in libraries. Though ours is not a fine copy, it presents quite nicely.…