Le Avventure di Stuart Little

Roma: Migliaresi. Tipography: Ramo Editoriale degli Agricoltori, 1946. First Italian Edition. Wraps (semi-stiff card). Very Good/Fair. Williams, Garth. The quintessential New York mouse goes international! 8vo. 20.5 by 15 cm. 136, [2] pp. With the original illustrations of Garth Williams, which are so integral to adults' fond memories of the juvenile classic. This edition also has a short appreciation from Dario Soria, who was an Italian-American who made his mark as an important record executive and opera expert. Among other things, he was the founder of the Cetra Label and the first head of Angel Records, which was EMIs American label for classical music. As a refugee from Fascist Italy, he was perfectly situated to bring this American juvenile literary phenomenon, first published not long before, in 1945, back to his recently liberated native country. We grade the book very good with the caveat that this makes allowances for the inevitable condition issues arising from the materials used, in this case, high pulp acidic paper, as the leaves are heavily browned and age toned, but are generally clean of stains and man or child-made markings. And we would also note that despite the pulp content, the leaves have escaped a brittleness that one tends to encounter with such paper when it is the age of this book. While the same might apply to the DJ, we rank it only Fair because it is also quite foxed, with a few non-fox stains as well, and it has chips and closed tears along its edges, as well as the front is completely detached from the spine along the fold. The spine also has lost about half of its surface when one adds all the chips together. We will note that the front and rear of the DJ, and especially the rear, are essentially all present.