The SECRET GARDEN. [illus by Graham Rust.**]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.White pictorial illustrated green cloth boards - trellised design repeated from green+white illus endpapers - with bright,crisp,blocked white ink letters to spine.Top+ fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-221pp [paginated] includes half-title,colour illustrated title-page,contents list/table verso of which has illustrator's facsimile(?) signature to book's dedicatee - his mother,27 chapters,b/w line illus chapter head-pieces,profuse atmospheric water-colour like illustrations in b/w+colour throughout the text and the book - all by Graham Rust. In her autobiography Frances Hodgson Burnett recalled her early memories of gardens - in particular,one which 'lay behind a little green door in a high wall. . . the little door so long unopened . . once there had been flowers and trees in this.' Years later this became the inspiration for 'The Secret Garden',a book which has now charmed readers for several generations. After losing her parents in a cholera epidemic in India,Mary Lennox,an unloved,unattractive and awkward little girl,is packed off to Misselthwaite Manor on the bleak Yorkshire moors.Here she encounters her invalid cousin,Colin,a spoiled and arrogant child who meets his match in Mary.Together they are drawn into the magical world of animals and nature around them and gradually - like the hidden garden they discover and nurture - they are both transformed by the beauty and mystery they find there. The characters,the story and the writing are as fresh today as they were when the book was originally published in 1911,and Graham Rust's original illustrations,full of fine period detail,bring to life the whole cast of characters and,of course,the secret garden itself - 'the sweetest,most mysterious-looking place anyone could imagine'. Graham Rust,born 1942,went to Art School for four years in London and New York.He has painted and travelled extensively, spending a year as Artist in Residence at Woodberry Forest School,Virginia in 1967.His work has been exhibited in London,New York and Hong Kong,and examples of his murals are to be found in houses in Britain,the USA and France.The largest and most spectacular of these,'The Temptation' at Ragley Hall,Warwickshire,was completed in 1983 after more than a decade's work.This is his first illustrated book. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.