The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Signed by Joan Aiken first edition 1962
AIKEN, Joan; Pat MARRIOTT [Illus.]
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
London: Jonathan Cape, 1962
8vo., original brown cloth, lettered in silver to backstrip with publisher’s device to foot; together in the vibrant pictorial dustwrapper (12s 6d. net) featuring a design of six wolves walking through a forest, designed by Pat Marriott; pp. [viii], 9-159, [i]; with frontis title replicating the wrapper, and numerous other line drawings within the text, including decorative chapter numberings and many full-page illustrations; the book in near-fine condition, with very light rubbing to edges and two very small spots extending from outer edge of text block to the outer margins of a couple of pages; the very good to near-fine jacket lightly and evenly sunned along the backstrip, with a couple of minor creases and traces of rubbing to outer edges, particularly at folds and spine ends. A lovely example.
First UK edition, first printing. This copy inscribed “Best wishes from the author: Joan Aiken” to the front free endpaper.
Joan Aiken was the daughter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Conrad Aiken, and began writing stories from a young age. Completing her first novel at just 16, she had her first story published just one year later, and in 1941 her first children's story was broadcast on the BBC's Children's Hour. After the death of her husband in 1955 she worked for a while at Argosy magazine, but after publishing The Wolves of Willoughby Chase she made her name as a gifted writer of children’s stories. Strongly inspired by the works of M. R. James, Fitz James O'Brien and Nugent Barker, she continued to write prolifically throughout her lifetime, mostly on the subject of ghosts and the supernatural, as well as several series which were set in alternative historical timelines. In 1968, she won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and in 1972 she was awarded the Edgar Allen Poe Award for her contributions to mystery fiction.
The present title is the first in Aiken’s acclaimed ‘Wolves Chronicles’, described as “a dramatic gothic adventure with a strong Dickensian feel” (ODNB). Aiken began work on the novel while still working for Argosy. Initially entitled ‘Bonnie Green’, the book is set in 1832, in a fictional alternative history in which wolves have invaded the United Kingdom after migrating through the Channel Tunnel. Aiken also plays with the geography of London, adding a district full of canals among other landmarks. Numerous books would follow in the same series, mostly centring on the character of Bonnie, her cousin Sylvia and their friend Simon, as they attempt to thwart the plans of their evil governess Miss Slighcarp. The book has become somewhat of a children’s classic, and proved so successful that Aiken was able to quit her full-time job to focus solely on her writing.
Often compared (and sometimes misattributed) to Edward Ardizzone and Edward Gorey, the story is enhanced with a number of black and white illustrations by Pat Marriott. Marriott was born in 1920, and studied at St. Martin's School of Art from the age of 14. After working as a nurse during the war, she married Michael Howard, director at the publishing firm Jonathan Cape (with whom this book is published), in 1953. Although Aiken had originally intended to use her own drawings for her series, her request was rejected by the publisher, and she was forced to find an illustrator. She was delighted that a suitable replacement was found in Marriott, and wrote of her sketches “They are delightful, full of character, and exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for” though she did note that “The governess is a little too sweet and amiable…” The partnership between Aiken and Marriott would last for another forty years, during which time they collaborated on eight of the Twelve Wolves Chronicles, as well as a series of fantasy stories.