First illustrated edition.

GRAHAME, Kenneth; Paul BRANSOM [Illus.] ~ The Wind in the Willows.

FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. Methuen & Co. Ltd., London: 1913.

4to., green cloth lettered in gilt to upper board and along spine; with central motif to upper board printed in black and white showing a willow tree, mole, toad and rat; replicating the title vignette; upper edge gilt, else untrimmed; full-colour frontis, endpapers, and a further 10 full page captioned illustrations on glossy paper; THE BOOK a lovely bright copy, slightly knocked at corners and spine; light scattered spotting throughout, and slight browning to the endleaves; the lower hinge cracked but holding firm; the book is protected in a removable mylar cover. Seventh edition, first with these illustrations by Paul Bransom. A lovely edition of this children's classic, written by Grahame for his son, 'mouse', to whom he would tell these adventures tales of animal antics as bedside stories when he was a child. Mole, Ratty, Mr Toad and Badger have since become ingrained in popular culture, and the book remains one of the most popular children's stories of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a huge swathe of contemporary writers claiming it as their favourite children's story. A. A. Milne once claimed that it was "A book that we all greatly loved and admired and read aloud or alone, over and over and over...one emotion only is allowed to creep in: nostalgia." Even the U.S. president at the time, Teddy Roosevelt, wrote to the author to express that he had "read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends". This edition is greatly enhanced by the illustrations by the American illustrator Paul Bransom, who wonderfully depicts the animals in such scenes as Ratty and Mole pulling a horse by the bridle; Otter in the snow; and toad in the dungeon. Bransom first began sketching animals in his garden while he was still a child, before going on to draw comic strips for the New York Evening Journal. He was later commissioned to provide illustrations of animals for the 'Saturday Evening Post', as well as for an edition of Kipling's 'Just So Stories'.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good