“THE CRAYON IS AS MUCH A CHARACTER AS HAROLD”: SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF CROCKETT JOHNSON’S SECOND HAROLD BOOK

JOHNSON, Crockett. Harold's Fairy Tale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956. 12mo, original half black cloth, pictorial paper boards, original dust jacket. $1800.

First edition of the second book in Johnson’s popular Harold series.

In his second outing, Harold uses his trusty purple crayon to draw a castle, a king, a witch, a flying carpet and a good fairy. "From page to page, the thick, firm, purple mark delineates Harold's actions against the stark white background so effectively and ingeniously that the crayon is as much a character as Harold… Few picture-book author-illustrators have captured [the world of very young children] as superbly as Johnson" (Silvey, 355). Gift inscription dated Christmas 1956.

Book fine, dust jacket extremely good with light foxing to front panel, rear flap fold partially worn away. An attractive copy. Scarce.