The Wind in the Willows (The Heritage Illustrated Bookshelf)

New York: The Heritage Illustrated Bookshelf (Heritage Press), 1940. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket. 9x6x1. Rackham, Arthur. No jacket. Titles on spine rubbed, spine and front board soiled, rear hinge starting. 1940 Hard Cover. xiv, 190 pp. 8vo. Grahame's classic novel, with color plates by Arthur Rackham. "The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie. The Wind in the Willows was saved from obscurity by the then-famous playwright, A.A. Milne, who loved it and adapted a part of it for stage as Toad of Toad Hall. The book made Grahame's fortune, enabling him to retire from his bank job, which he hated, though it was respectable and well-paid. He moved to the country, where he spent his time by the River Thames doing much as the animal characters in his book do; namely, as one of the most famous phrases from the book says, 'simply messing about in boats'. The seventh chapter of the book, 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,' inspired the successful band Pink Floyd on their debut album (called The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)." -- Wikipedia