Kay Thompson’s Eloise in Moscow — First UK Edition, 1959

THOMPSON, Kay; KNIGHT, Hilary (illustrator).
Eloise in Moscow.
London: Max Reinhardt Ltd, 1959. First UK edition. Quarto. Illustrated throughout by Hilary Knight. Original publisher’s boards in the original illustrated dustwrapper.

Description

A first UK edition of Eloise in Moscow, the fourth of Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight’s original Eloise books and one of the most visually distinctive titles in the series.

Published by Max Reinhardt in London in 1959, the book transports Eloise from the familiar surroundings of New York and Paris to Soviet Moscow at the height of the Cold War. Thompson’s characteristic wit is combined with Hilary Knight’s highly expressive illustrations, which depict Eloise encountering a world of snow, fur hats, official escorts and Soviet ceremony with her usual irreverence and complete lack of inhibition.

The title-page identifies Kay Thompson’s Eloise in Moscow with “Drawings by Hilary Knight”, while the copyright page confirms “First published in Great Britain 1959”. Knight’s illustrations appear throughout, employing his characteristic fluid line with restrained colour accents, particularly black, yellow and red, against wintry grey and white backgrounds.

The original dustwrapper carries one of Knight’s strongest designs for the series, showing Eloise from behind in a fur coat against a snowy Moscow landscape. The rear panel, headed “Dossier on Eloise”, playfully presents the character through contemporary comments attributed to figures including Vivien Leigh, Noël Coward, Lady Packenham, John P. Marquand, Douglas Fairbanks and Joyce Grenfell.

The Moscow setting gives the book an additional period interest beyond the Eloise series itself. Appearing in 1959, at a time when travel between the Western world and the Soviet Union still carried considerable political and cultural fascination, the book filters Cold War Moscow through Thompson and Knight’s deliberately comic and cosmopolitan perspective.

A desirable first British edition of an important Eloise title, particularly appealing in its original illustrated dustwrapper.

Condition

Very good in a good dustwrapper. The boards are bright and clean. Internally very well preserved, with occasional foxing to the pages. The original dustwrapper is foxed, with further age-toning and light wear, particularly to the lighter rear panel and around the spine, but remains complete, attractive and very presentable.

Bibliographical Details

Author: Kay Thompson
Illustrator: Hilary Knight
Title: Eloise in Moscow
Publisher: Max Reinhardt Ltd
Place of Publication: London
Date: 1959
Edition: First UK edition
Format: Quarto
Illustration: Illustrated throughout by Hilary Knight
Binding: Original publisher’s boards
Dustwrapper: Original illustrated dustwrapper
Condition: Very good in good dustwrapper

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