The Magic Finger.
London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1968 Stock Code: 140580
First UK edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the title page, "Christopher Radmell, Roald Dahl". Rarely found inscribed, Magic Finger was first published two years earlier in the US.
Dahl had originally begun work on it in 1962, under its original title of The Almost Ducks. In the story, an eight-year-old girl, who hates to see animals killed for fun, develops a special power, similar to that of Matilda. The book was part of a project in which a group of writers were asked to create a story for children with a limited vocabulary. Dahl, who was very much against animal cruelty, wrote this anti-hunting story against "all the brave deer hunters and duck hunters in the country". However, Dahl's publishers were initially wary of repercussions from the US gun lobby and so waited until their option to publish had expired. It was later published by Harper & Row in New York in 1966 under the present title.
Description
Octavo. Original pictorial boards, titles to spine, front, and rear covers in black, blue pictorial endpapers. No dust jacket issued.
Illustrations
Illustrated by William Pène du Bois.
Condition
Spine faintly toned, a near-fine, clean copy.
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