The Three Policemen; or, Young Bottsford of Farbe Island de William Pène du Bois (Author and Illustrator) - 1938

New York: The Viking Press, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good +/very good. First printing, octavo size, 92 pp. William Pène du Bois' (1916-1993) demonstrates his expertise in both writing and illustrating in this charming volume; Pène du Bois won the Newbery Medal for "The Twenty-One Balloons" in 1948, and, for books he illustrated, he was the runner-up for the Caldecott Medal twice. Pène du Bois brings a delightful visual interpretation to stories of imaginative, far-off lands, with elements of science mixed with the fantasy.

Per Bader, "If one had to select a single Pène du Bois book for the Presidential library or a time capsule, the one that is Pène du Bois complet et parfait, it would be 'The Three Policemen'. . ." (p. 176).

___DESCRIPTION: Full grey-green cloth, line drawing in yellow on the front board, yellow lettering on the spine, black and grey endpapers illustrations of a fish hook in yellow, black, white, and grey, title page with colour illustration by William Pène du Bois, illustrations in colour, some full-page, and black and white by Pène du Bois throughout; octavo size (9.75" by 7.25"), pagination: [1-6] 7-92. In a pictorial paper dust jacket with colour illustrations on the front and rear panel, red and black lettering on the front panel, black lettering on the spine, a description of the book on the front flap, and author bio and photograph on the rear flap; the dust jacket showing the original price of $2.00 on the rear flap, the front flap seemingly "clipped", but with the price on the back flap the reason behind this is a mystery.

___CONDITION: Volume is very good plus, with straight, unrubbed corners, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; some soiling to the boards, shallow crease at the bottom of the half-title page, light spots of soiling to the margins of a few pages throughout. The dust jacket is very good, clean overall with some light soiling, sunning to the spine, some overall edgewear, including chipping to the head and tail of the spine (but with no loss of text), and a few pieces of old cello tape to the verso.

___CITATION: Bader pp. 176-7.

___POSTAGE:  International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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