The ILLUSTRATED CHRISTMAS CRACKER. [Author SIGNED copy.]

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,co-SIGNED,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,but author SIGNED,with neat,handwritten,black ink signature without dedication,by John Julius Norwich to top edge of title-page,with price-clip to dw/dj.Crisp,clean,matt,cream+colour pictorial artwork illustrated dw/dj by Quentin Blake; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Bright,clean,unblemished, publisher's original, gilt-decorated (holly leaves) yellow cloth upper bd with bright, crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate dark green eps.UK, slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn,7-64pp [paginated] includes colour pictorial illus by Quentin Blake to every paginated page,plus [unpaginated] half-title page,a SIGNED title page,and an author introduction. For over thirty years,John Julius Norwich has been sending out his Christmas Crackers (3 to date - then 2002) - a personal collection of quirky quotes and literary odds and ends - to his friends instead of a Christmas card.Every decade,these have been collected into a best-selling anthology.Now Quentin Blake has made a selection of favourite pieces from Lord Norwich's commonplace book,and illustrated them in his own inimitable style. From curious dictionary definitions ('Carphology.Delirious fumbling with the bedclothes,&c'.Concise Oxford Dictionary) and tortuous palindromes ('Live dirt up a side-track carted is a putrid evil') to an 18thC piece by a farmer about his drunken pigs and Benjamin Franklin's account of inventing bifocals,this cracker is stuffed with surprising,offbeat,often hilarious gems.Enlivened by Quentin Blake's witty illustrations,'The Illustrated Christmas Cracker' is the perfect stocking-filler for the connoisseur. John Julius Norwich is a leading writer,historian and broadcaster.He is the author of histories of Norman Sicily,Venice and Byzantium,as well as three best-selling collections of Christmas Crackers.He first collaborated with Quentin Blake on 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.Very uncommon for a SIGNED copy. Quentin Blake,born 1932,Sidcup,Kent.Son of a civil servant. Educated at Chiselhurst,Sidcup Grammar School and Cambridge University.Attended life classes at Chelsea College of Art.Tutor in illustration at the Royal College of Art (1965-78) and Head of the Illustration Dept since 1978.He works in pen and ink and watercolour in a popular and unmistakeable style,capturing essential character and movement with wit and gaiety in a few rapid strokes.He has illustrated many editions of the BBC Jackanory television programme.He was chosen as the first Children's Laureate in 1999. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight and the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes -particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!