Mervyn Peake — Rhymes without Reason

London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1944 . First edition. Cloth. A desirable first edition of Peake's eccentric of nonsense verse, illustrated with sixteen colour illustrations by Peake, and complete with the scarce original pictorial dust wrapper. In the publisher's original cloth binding.  First edition.  Complete with the original unclipped dust wrapper.  Illustrated with sixteen full-page colour illustrations by Peake, each accompanying one of the volume's sixteen nonsense poems. Collated, complete.  An eccentric collection of nonsense verse by Mervyn Peake, combining absurd rhymes, grotesque creatures and dreamlike situations in a manner indebted to the English nonsense tradition of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll.  Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was an English novelist, poet and artist, best known for his Gormenghast sequence.  In the publisher's original cloth binding.  Externally, smart. Slight discolouration to spine. Minor shelf wear to extremities. One or two minor marks to boards. Rubbing to rear free endpaper with minor surface loss from erasure of previous owner's inscription. Dust wrapper, generally smart. Tape repairs to reverse at head of spine and tail of front joint. Creasing to head of front panel. Slight edge wear resulting in the odd small chip, closed tear, and crease. Slight sunning and rubbing to spine. One or two very minor marks. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean with light age toning, one or two faint spots and marks to fore edge. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: Mervyn Peake. Very Good Indeed/Very Good.