ECO, Umberto (author). Eugenio CARMI (illustrator). The Gnomes of Gnù. Milano; Gruppo Editoriale Fabbi, Bompiani, Sonzogno, Etas Sp. A. In collaboration with Stefanel, S.p.A. , Treviso. 1992.
4to. Original white cloth, lettered in deep red to spine, preserved in pictorial white dustwrapper; pp. [38], printed on coated art paper; with 17 largely abstract full-page coloured plates; a fine copy, without ownership inscription, protected by a similarly fine dustwrapper; scarce.
First English language edition, translated from the Italian by William Weaver. Published in Italy as Gli gnomi di gnù in the same year. The third children's book by this creative pairing of 'word maker' and 'image maker', preceded by The Bomb and the General and The Three Astronauts. The flap blurb invites adults (and potentates) to reflect on this unclassifiable fairytale with its elements of science fiction and its powerful ecological warning.
Umberto Eco (1932-2016), novelist, philosopher, literary critic and semiotician, is of course best known for his 1980 novel which was translated into English as 'The Name of the Rose' and which, through word of mouth, quickly became a publishing sensation, establishing itself among the best-selling books ever published.
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