Carnegie Medal Prize Winner

Garner, Alan ~ The Owl Service : Signed By the Author

First USA Printing : Henry Z. Walck, Incorporated, New York : 1968

The First USA Printing published by Henry Z. Walck, Incorporated, New York in 1968. 8vo., black publisher’s cloth printed in white with circular plate motif to upper board; letter printed in white to spine; clipped pictorial black, yellow and green wrapper featuring a design by Janet Halverson; The BOOK an excellent, near-Fine example, lightly rubbed at edges; lmild spotting to the upper text-block ; in the like clipped WRAPPER which remains clean and bright; mild rubbing to edges and fold with a couple of tiny nicks the only defects. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The wrapper design is completely different to that issued with the first UK printing, which was published one year earlier by Collins, London. The book has been signed (without dedication) by the author to the title page. A fantasy novel for young adults, set in modern Wales, and a rendering of the Blodeuwedd story - a figure of Welsh mythology who is made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and oak by the king of Gwynedd, Math and the trickster Gwydion. Betraying her husband in favour of another man, she is transformed into an Owl as punishment for her sins. Garner’s adaptation sees three children; Alison, her stepbrother Roger, and Gwyn, the housekeeper’s son, reawaken the legend after finding plates in the attic emblazoned with strange owl patterns. Four years in the making, the book proved extremely popular, and was later turned into both a television series (1969) and a radio adaptation in 2000. After searching for almost 40 years to identify the designer of the plates which first inspired Garner to write the novel, the mystery was finally solved when they were found to be by Christopher Dresser, who died in 1904. Garner claimed that he had only ever seen five plates with the design in existence. The novel was awarded the British Library Association Carnegie medal in the year of publication. Scarce to find signed in collectible condition.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Near Fine