Christopher Woodforde — A Pad in the Straw

London, J. M. Dent & Sons, 1952 . First edition. Cloth. An excellent example of the first edition of Christopher Woodforde's collection of ghost stories and horrifying tales for children. The first edition, first impression, in the publisher's original price clipped dust wrapper.In the vein of the tales of M. R. James, this is a wonderful collection of twenty antiquarian ghost stories for children.The Encyclopaedia of Fantasy identifies this as the earliest recognised collection of children's ghost stories.The dust wrapper is designed by John Yunge-Bateman, who is also responsible for the small number of vignette illustrations throughout the work. In the publisher's original cloth binding, with price clipped dust wrapper. Light shelf wear to back strip tail, with light fading to back strip. Light spotting to fore edge of text block. Dust wrapper front wrap in exceptional condition, with rear wrap lightly age toned to perimeters. Two minor chips to back strip tail, with three closed tears to back strip head, and a further significant closed tear to head of rear wrap. Internally, firmly bound. Pages clean and bright. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: Yunge-Bateman. Very Good Indeed/Very Good Indeed.