{"product_id":"kenneth-grahame-shepard-wind-in-the-willows-1931-125240","title":"The Wind in the Willows.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cem\u003e'The Wind in the Willows\u003c\/em\u003e, is a far more interesting book than its popular and often juvenile audience might suggest. First, it is the work of a writer who had known considerable success in the 1890s as a young contemporary of Oscar Wilde and also an admired contributor to the literary quarterly \u003cem\u003eThe Yellow Book\u003c\/em\u003e. At that point, Grahame was employed by the Bank of England but, still in his 20s, was publishing stories in literary magazines, work that became collected in \u003cem\u003eDream Days \u003c\/em\u003e(1895) and an even more successful publication, \u003cem\u003eThe Golden Age\u003c\/em\u003e (1898).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe text of \u003cem\u003eThe Wind in the Willows\u003c\/em\u003e 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 of England (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 \u003cem\u003eThe Wind in the Willows\u003c\/em\u003e is a tale steeped in nostalgia, and inspired by a father's love for his only son.' (Robert McCrum)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFirst edition thus; 8vo (190 x 130 mm); some very light spotting to prelims (now usual) but no inscriptions, else very good plus; publisher's green boards, gilt illustration to upper board, gilt lettering to spine, illustrated endpapers, top edge green, one tiny light mark to upper board, light edge wear to extremities but with no chipping or tearing to cloth, very good plus; 312pp.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"GRAHAME, Kenneth; SHEPARD, Ernest H. (illustrator)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57633381482871,"sku":"125240","price":575.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/125240_01.jpg?v=1792688214","url":"https:\/\/shapero.com\/products\/kenneth-grahame-shepard-wind-in-the-willows-1931-125240","provider":"Shapero Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}