ADAMS, RICHARD Watership Down. London: Penguin Books/Kestrel Books. 1976.
Large 8vo. Quarter bound cream cloth boards, spine lettered in gilt and black with yellow endpapers and a fold-out map; Housed in an illustrated slip case; pp.x [5] 550; minimal scuffing to dustjacket on top spine; otherwise fine.
Pristine First illustrated edition, first impression of the ultimate children's classic and a presentation copy to John Guest, signed by both the author and illustrator, 'To John Guest/ wise friend and kindly critic, with deep appreciation'
"Be cunning, and full of tricks"- Richard Adams.
Watership Down tells the iconic tale of an anthromorphized group of rabbits trying to find peace in the hill of Watership Down, ultimately a perilous quest for survival away from the human destruction of their warren.
For a period of months, illustrator John Lawrence visited the Berkshire countryside with his sketchbook, creating numerous drawings for this edition.
In his autobiography Days Gone By, Adams reveals that the book was an inspired analogy of his experience during The Battle of Arnhem in World War Two, with various characters based on real persons in his life such as his Commanding Officer. The book has been banned in certain states and in China in 1965 as a rebuke against the allegorical representation of society's propensity to discriminate.
After first improvising the story to his two daughters on long car journeys, the book went onto receive many accolades including the annual Carnegie Medal and in 1978 was adaped into a feature film. The story of Watership Down has survived generations with an animated feature film released in 2018 on Netflix.
John Guest was an advisor to Penguin and became renowned for his scrupulous editing, including the works of Richard Adams himself, with whom he forged a correspondence and friendship.~b~
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