Watership Down

Richard Adams, Watership Down. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books / Kestrel Books, [1978].

First illustrated edition, third impression, published two years after the original year of publication. Illustrated by John Lawrence. Including original dust wrapper and slipcase.

Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry, and mythology. Evoking epic themes, the novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a place to establish a new home (the hill of Watership Down), encountering perils and temptations along the way.

Condition

Quarter-bound in cloth with paper sides. Light wear overall. Light bumping to corners and head and tail of spine. Very light discolouration to spine. Foxing to edges and some yellow staining to outer pages, as photographed. Pages tightly bound with no significant straining or breaks. No inscriptions or marginalia within. Presenting well in a good, unclipped dust wrapper with bright panels, but tanning to spine. Some chipping with slight loss to extremities. Because every time the book is placed back inside its case, the dust jacket rubs against the sides of the slipcase, we felt it important to add a sleeve of archival quality to the dust jacket to minimise rubbing and protect it for the future. This sleeve can be easily removed if desired. The slipcase is in good+ condition with lovely pictorial panels, minimal bumping to corners and slight marking and shelf-wear.