The Gremlins: From the Disney Production

New York: Random House, 1943. Hardcover. Near Fine/Good. First edition. Large thin quarto. Corners bumped else near fine in a good dust jacket with scraping and loss of paper mostly on the front panel. Roald Dahl's first book, ironically enough a children's book. Dahl was recuperating from a crash while serving with the RAF when, encouraged by his friend C.S. Forester, he began writing. A manuscript of this first novel was sent to Walt Disney, who decided to make the story into a film, and Dahl went to Hollywood to help with the screenplay. Though Dahl later claimed he invented the term "Gremlins," the pesky devils had actually been part of RAF lore since the previous war. However, they were unknown in the U.S. and Disney, intending to pave the way for the film in the American market, arranged for the publication of this book. Though uncredited, one of the primary artists for this volume was Walt Kelly. Disney's plan was too successful - Warner Brothers produced two short Gremlin cartoons and shortly afterwards Walt Disney lost interest in the project and stopped production on the film. Eleanor Roosevelt enjoyed reading the book to her grandchildren and invited Dahl to the White House (there have been claims, perhaps self-aggrandizing on Dahl's part, that based upon this introduction Dahl served as an unofficial liaison between FDR and Churchill). A nice copy, in a flawed jacket.