Wally the Wordworm

Owings Mills, MD: Stemmer House, 1983. Second Edition. First printing with Atherton's illustrations (originally published 1964). Small quarto. cloth-backed paper-covered boards; dustjacket; 56pp; illus. Fine copy in original, unclipped dustwrapper, lightly rubbed and with a short, closed tear at upper margin, a bit toned at folds and mildly foxed on verso; Very Good. Neat ownership signature and printed bookplate of James G. Mead.

An attractive reissue of Fadiman's charming book for young readers, a celebration of words and lexicography told from the vantage point of a voracious bookworm. The first edition was illustrated by Arnold Roth; this (truncated) reissue featured all-new illustrations by Maryland artist Lisa Atherton. It was her second published appearance as a book illustrator. (Inventory #: 63346)