Lord Dunsany; The King of Elfland's Daughter, 1924. First trade edition.

Lord Dunsany (Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, 1878-1957), was a pioneer of fantasy literature. He was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist and was a prolific author, producing over 90 books and hundreds of short stories. He was producing work in the fantasy genre before it even had a name, and his writing inspired authors such as JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. 2024 represents the centenary of his 1924 classic fantasy novel 'The King of Elfland's Daughter'. We hope the focus on that book will bring him to a wider modern audience.

Here, we offer The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany – his best known fantasy novel - much admired and genre defining.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, London & New York. First trade edition, but stated second edition overall, June 1924 (the first edition was a deluxe signed/limited edition in May 2024). 

A good blue cloth hardback with gilt titles. With light bumping and shelf wear and a little creasing to spine. Some wear to head and tail of spine. Offsetting to first and last free endpapers. Edge of 1st page of contents is still uncut. No dustjacket.

Text is bright and clean with some spotting to edge of text block. Lower and vertical edge of text block is rough cut, as issued. Frontispiece plate of 'The Hunting of the Unicorn' by S.H. Sime is bright and clear. Printed signature of Dunsany to Preface page.

A nice copy of an early fantasy novel beginning to garner more attention.

Text in English.

xi + 301pp (including frontispiece).

Dimensions: approx 196mm high x 134mm wide x 30mm deep.

Weight: approximately 360g (unpacked).