Tove Jansson

Home , Little My, Moominhouse, The Dangerous Journey, Tove Jansson

TOVE JANSSON

Item 8

BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BQ, UK Tel.: +44 (0)1865 333555 Fax: +44 (0)1865 794143 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @blackwellrare blackwell.co.uk/rarebooks

BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS

1. Jansson (Tove) Complete set of ten animal postcards. [Helsinki:] Taidekorttikeskus, 1941, each a single card with colour-printed illustration by Jansson to front. each 14 x 9cm, fine condition £400 Preceding the Moomin books that brought her fame, this is accomplished early work from the Finnish illustrator, completed for the ‘Art Card Centre’ in Helsinki.

2. Jansson (Tove, Illustrator) Litteratur - Konst - Teater 1946, Nr 4. Omslag och teckningar av Tove Jansson. Helsinki: Holger Schildts, 1946, FIRST EDITION, 9 monochrome drawings by Tove Jansson, pp. [ii], 215-80, 4to, original wrappers, Jansson illustration to front (not used elsewhere), near fine £325 An excellent copy of this periodical, notable for having Tove Jansson, then beginning to publish her Moomin books, as the sole illustrator, providing drawings to accompany both prose and poetry.

3. Jansson (Tove) Hur gick det sen? [Boken om Mymlan, Mumintrollet och lilla My]. [The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My.] Helsinki: Gebers, [1952,] FIRST EDITION, colour-printed illustrations by Jansson throughout, with cut-out apertures, pp. [28, including covers], 4to, original quarter natural linen and illustrated boards, with circular apertures to both covers (large and tiny respectively), a touch of rubbing, very good £650 A beautiful copy of the first Moomin picture-book.

4. Jansson (Tove) Trollvinter [Moominland Midwinter]. Helsinki: AWE, Gebers, 1957, FIRST EDITION, vignette to half-title, frontispiece map and illustrated throughout by the author, pp. 146, [1], crown 8vo, original quarter red cloth with illustrated boards, backstrip lettered in gilt and very gently faded, a couple of miniscule spots to upper board, very good £245 The sixth of the author’s Moomin books.

2 TOVE JANSSON

5. Carroll (Lewis) Snarkjakten. I Översättning av Lars Forssell och Åke Runnquist. Illustrerad av Tove Jansson. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers, 1959, FIRST SWEDISH EDITION, frontispiece and 8 full-page illustrations by Tove Jansson as well as numerous tail-piece decorations, pp. 52, crown 8vo, original wrappers with Jansson illustrations to both covers (that to front colour-printed), toned to backstrip and borders, very good £900 A wonderful edition of Carroll’s poem, with Jansson’s illustrations - full of her characteristically sombre and quizzical expressions - capturing its mood perfectly. A sparkling copy, and scarce thus - the illustrations were used for an English language version by the Tate Gallery in 2012, but this is their original publication.

6. Jansson (Tove) Vem ska trösta Knyttet? [Who Will Comfort Toffle?]. Helsinki: Gebers, 1960, FIRST EDITION, colour-printed illustrations by Jansson throughout, pp. [28], 4to, original quarter grey cloth with Jansson-illustrated boards, gentlest of knocks at one corner, a tiny patch of rubbing, very good £350 The second Moomin picture-book, uncommon in this condition.

7. Jansson (Tove) Det Osynliga Barnet, och Andra Berättelser [Tales from Moominvalley.] Helsinki: Gebers, [1962,] FIRST EDITION, illustrations by the author, faint browning to half- title and contents page at rear, pp. 167, [1], crown 8vo, original quarter cream cloth with Jansson illustration to upper board, backstrip lettered in blue, a little minor rubbing at corners, faint browning to endpapers, very good £265

8. Tolkien (J.R.R.) Bilbo. En Hobbits Äventyr [The Hobbit.] I Översättning av Britt G. Hallqvist och med Illustrationer av Tove Jansson. Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren, 1962, FIRST JANSSON EDITION, 10 full-page drawings with numerous smaller drawings throughout text, pp. 308, 8vo, original quarter green cloth with colour- printed Jansson illustration to upper board, a touch of fading largely to lower board and none affecting Jansson image, backstrip lettered in gilt and gently faded with a hint of rubbing at extremities, very good £2,000 An attractive edition - a book whose scarcity can be attributed to both author and illustrator being immensely collectable separately. Given the importance of the Nordic influence on Tolkien’s work, there is something reciprocal about the foremost illustrator of the region turning her hand to one of his most enduring works - and the results are delightful.

3 BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS

9. Jansson (Tove) Pappan och havet [Moominpappa at Sea]. Helsinki: AWE, Gebers, [1965,] FIRST EDITION, the author’s illustrations throughout, pp. 176, [2], crown 8vo, original white boards with the author’s illustration to upper board in sombre blue, a mite rubbed at tips of backstrip and very minor dustsoiling, very good £500

10. Jansson (Tove) Bildhuggarens dotter [Sculptor’s daughter]. Helsinki: Almqvist & Wiksell/Gebers, 1968, FIRST EDITION, pp. 147, [1], crown 8vo, original mustard-yellow cloth, backstrip lettered in black, dustjacket illustrated by the author with some minor toning, small crack in lower half of backstrip panel, very good £600 The author’s memoir of her Finnish childhood.

11. Jansson (Tove) Den farliga resan [The Dangerous Journey]. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers, [1977,] FIRST EDITION, colour-printed illustrations throughout, pp. [28], 4to, original quarter mustard yellow cloth and pictorial boards, backstrip printed in black, fine £150

12. Jansson (Tove) Skurken i Muminhuset [Villain in the Moominhouse]. Photo: Per Olov Jansson. Stockholm: Bonniers Junior, 1980, FIRST EDITION, photographic illustrations throughout, pp. [32], 4to, original quarter blue cloth with illustrated boards, backstrip lettered in black, near fine £100 A departure, insofar as the illustrations are not taken from the author’s original drawings but comprise rather of photos taken by her brother of models of the Moominhouse and its inhabitants constructed by Tove Jansson and her partner Tuulikki Pietilä. No English translation of this work has yet been published.