The Witches. by DAHL, Roald; BLAKE, Quentin (illustrator)

London, Jonathan Cape, 1983. . First edition, first impression; 8vo; illustrations by Quentin Blake, very slight toning to paper stock, as usual; publisher's blue boards, titles to spine gilt, Quentin Blake designed dust-jacket, a hint of rubbing to top edge, otherwise a fine copy.
A classic dark tale from a master of the genre, the macabre menace only slightly mitigated by the target audience being children. Winner of the Whitbread Award for Children's Novel in 1983, The Witches was also successfully dramatised on several occasions, most famously perhaps the 1990 film featuring Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, which featured a differing ending from that in the book (much to the author's chagrin).

Intriguingly, it has also found itself at one time or another banned for perceived misogyny, as Dahl states that only women can be witches: 'I do not wish to speak badly about women,' the author writes. 'Most women are lovely. But the fact remains that all witches are women. There is no such thing as a male witch. On the other hand, a ghoul is always a male... both are dangerous. But neither of them is half as dangerous as a REAL WITCH'. Dahl's creation has also found itself taken off reading lists across schools in America for the possibility of turning children to witchcraft with its perceived satanic themes and the fear of desensitising young minds to violence.