My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell – 1957 Fourth Impression

Author: Gerald Durrell
Title: My Family and Other Animals
Publisher: Rupert Hart-Davis, London
Date: 1957
Edition: First UK Edition, Fourth Impression
Format: Octavo
Catalogue Number: 004164
Condition: Near Fine in Near Fine Dustwrapper

Description

An attractive early impression of Gerald Durrell’s best-known book, My Family and Other Animals, published by Rupert Hart-Davis in 1957. This is the fourth impression of the first UK edition, issued only a year after the book’s original publication in 1956.

Set during Durrell’s childhood years on Corfu, the book combines autobiography, natural history, travel writing and comedy in an account of the Durrell family’s life on the island. Alongside the famous portraits of his mother and siblings, Durrell records his developing fascination with animals, insects and the natural world, making the book both a family memoir and an important early expression of the interests that would later define his work as a zoologist and conservationist.

My Family and Other Animals became Durrell’s most successful and enduring book and remains one of the best-known works of twentieth-century British nature and travel writing. Early impressions in their original dustwrappers are increasingly sought after, particularly when the wrapper remains clean and presentable.

Condition

The binding is tight and firm. The pages are nice and clean. A near fine copy. The original illustrated dustwrapper is also near fine, with slight creasing, fading and rubbing. It has been re-priced to 18s net and remains particularly attractive. The dustwrapper has now been protected in an easily removable clear archival sleeve.

A very pleasing early impression of Durrell’s most important and collectible book.

Catalogue No. 004164.

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