The Wind in the Willows.
London, Methuen and Co., 1908
'The text of The Wind in the Willows also encrypts a family tragedy. In 1899, Grahame married and had one child, a boy named Alastair who was troubled with health problems and a difficult personality, culminating in the boy's eventual suicide, the cause of much parental anguish. When Grahame finally retired from the Bank (as secretary) in 1908, he could concentrate on the stories he had been telling his son, the stories of the Thames riverbank on which Grahame himself had grown up. So The Wind in the Willows is a tale steeped in nostalgia, and inspired by a father's love for his only son.' (Robert McCrum)
First edition; 8vo; frontispiece by Graham Robertson, occasional spotting and browning, slightly worn at extremities, otherwise very good; publisher's pictorial blue-green cloth stamped in gilt, leaves uncut (as published), some marks to binding, head and foot of spine bumped with minor tears, upper joint splitting, otherwise, also very good; preserved in a modern, bespoke dark blue morocco solander box.
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