ZUSAK, Markus The Book Thief

Large 8vo., black boards lettered typographically in gilt to spine with publisher’s device to foot; textured red endpapers; unclipped pictorial dustwrapper (£12.99 to front flap) designed by Gavin Morris; pp. [x], 3-584; the book very near fine, with just a hint of mild spotting to the upper edge and ever-so-slight compression to spine tips; the wrapper essentially fine. 

First UK edition, this copy signed by the author with the addition of a smiley face before the first initial, as is his custom. 

Zusak was born to German/Austrian parents who had emigrated to Australia in the 1950s. It was the stories which his parents later recounted to him about their experiences in Europe (including witnessing the Munich to the Dachau death march and the bombings of Munich) which led him to write a story from the perspective of Death, combining on one hand all that is brutal about humanity, but on the other all that is compassionate and beautiful. “We have these images of the straight-marching lines of boys and the ‘Heil Hitlers’ and this idea that everyone in Germany was in it together”, he later explained in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, “But there still were rebellious children and people who didn’t follow the rules and people who hid Jews and other people in their houses…there’s another side to Nazi Germany.” 

The plot follows nine year old Liesel growing up in a foster home in Germany during the Second World War, who upon discovering a half-burned book in the snow embarks on a mission to steal as many books as possible - from burnings, the mayor's wife's library, or wherever she can find them. 

The book was a huge success, selling 17 million copies worldwide and translated into 63 languages. In 2013 it was adapted into film, featuring a score by the composer John Williams. 

A beautiful copy.  

SKU: 1800249