First edition, first printing (true first). 240pp. Illustrated with black and white drawings by the brilliant artist, Quentin Blake. Red cloth boards with titles to spine in gilt. Some compression of spine tips, rubbed and rounded at corners, bumped on lower leading edge (affecting first few pages) and minor marks. Internally bright, crisp and clean. Inscribed and signed by the author: “To Olivia, with lots of love Roald Dahl 24 May 1988”. To add to the poignancy of the inscription, Dahl’s eldest daughter, who died of measles in 1962, was also called Olivia. Matilda won the Children’s Book Award in the of its first publication and formed the basis of the 1996 Danny Devito film of the same name, and the successful stage musical which opened at the RSC Courtyard in Stratford Upon Avon in 2010. Dahl signed few books, although they can be found. Signed firsts of Matilda – like this one – are very hard to find.
