“THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS—NOW YOU’RE TALKING!”: FIRST EDITION OF MILNE’S TOAD OF TOAD HALL
MILNE, A. A. Toad of Toad Hall. A Play from Kenneth Grahame's Book 'The Wind in the Willows. London: Methuen, (1929). Small octavo, original blue cloth, top edge gilt, original dust jacket.
First trade edition of Milne’s stage adaptation of The Wind in the Willows.
Milne was a great admirer of "Kenneth Grahame's masterpiece for children," The Wind in the Willows" (Muir, 157). When it was proposed to him that he might attempt to dramatize a part of the book, he responded to Curtis Brown, in November of 1921: "The Wind in the Willows—now you're talking! If Kenneth Grahame is willing, and if you feel pretty sure that you can find the right manager for it (as I think you shall be able to), I will do it. And I shall love doing it. In fact, as soon as I got your letter, I began sketching it out… It's no use talking to me about novels now—I'm much too excited about this here play." In his enthusiasm, Milne underestimated the difficulty of his task; the play did not appear until eight years later. In spite of the many problems involved in the adaptation, it remains the only Milne play still regularly produced.
Minor offsetting to endpapers only, cloth fine, gilt bright. Original dust jacket with minor crease along upper edge of front panel, clean and near-fine.