Watership Down.

Adams, Richard

Published by Rex Collings, London, 1972

About this Item

First edition of the author's first and most beloved work. Octavo, original brown cloth, folding map. Boldly signed the author on the title page, "Yours sincerely Richard Adams." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box by Asprey. An exceptional example, uncommon signed. Although Watership Down was rejected by 13 publishers before Collings accepted it, it has never been out of print, and is Penguin Books' best-selling novel of all time. It won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize. The title refers to a hill in the north of Hampshire, England, near the area where Adams grew up. The story has its roots in the tales that Richard Adams made up for his young daughters during long car journeys. As he explained in 2007 in an interview with the BBC, he "began telling the story of the rabbits . . . improvised off the top of my head, as we were driving along." He based the struggles of the animals on the struggles he and his friends encountered during the Battle of Oosterbeek in 1944. The daughters insisted he write it down "they were very, very persistent." After some delay he began writing in the evenings and completed it 18 months later. Seller Inventory # 136602

Bibliographic Details

Title: Watership Down.

Publisher: Rex Collings, London

Publication Date: 1972

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition