The Wind in the Willows

Front Cover
Collector's Library, 2005 - Fiction - 264 pages
.0000000000When Mole tires of spring-cleaning his home, he takes a stroll to the riverbank. There he meets a new friend, Ratty, who introduces him to the delightful world of the river and all its residents. Beyond the river, which has now lured Mole away from home, lies the Wild Wood, where the reclusive Badger has made his home. The three animals become firm friends that winter when Ratty and Mole take refuge from the snow in Badgers house. Together they have many thrilling adventures with the irrepressible Mr Toad, who, try as he might, simply cannot help getting into trouble. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham, with an Afterword by David Stuart Davies
 

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Contents

The River Bank
13
The Open Road
31
The Wild Wood
49
Mr Badger
67
Dulce Domum
86
Mr Toad
108
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
127
Toads Adventures
143
Wayfarers All
162
The Further Adventures of Toad
186
Like Summer Tempests Came his Tears
210
The Return of Ulysses
235
Afterword
255
Further Reading
264
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About the author (2005)

Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh in 1859. He was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, but family circumstances prevented him from entering Oxford University. He joined the Bank of England as a gentleman clerk in 1879, rising to become the Bank's Secretary in 1898. He wrote a series of short stories, married Elspeth Thomson in 1899 and their only child, Alistair, was born a year later. He left the Bank in 1908, the year that The Wind in the Willows was published. Though not an immediate success, by the time of Grahame's death in 1932 it was recognised as a children's classic. Arthur Rackham was born in London, England. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art. In 1892 he left his job and started working for The Westminster Budget as a reporter and illustrator. His first book illustrations were published in 1893 in To the Other Side by Thomas Rhodes, but his first serious commission was in 1894 for The Dolly Dialogues, the collected sketches of Anthony Hope, who later went on to write The Prisoner of Zenda. Book illustrating then became Rackham's career for the rest of his life. Rackham invented his own unique technique which resembled photographic reproduction; he would first sketch an outline of his drawing, then lightly block in shapes and details. Afterwards he would add lines in pen and India ink, removing the pencil traces after it had dried. With color pictures, he would then apply multiple washes of color until transparent tints were created. Arthur Rackham died in 1939 of cancer in his home in Limpsfield, Surrey.

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