The Golden Compass

PULLMAN, Philip. The Golden Compass. His Dark Materials, Book One. NY: Alfred A. Knopf [1996]. 12mo, [x] 403pp. Navy cloth spine stamped in gold, with navy boards. Heel of spine a tad rubbed, else a fine, bright copy in the original color pictorial d.w. (slightest wear at heel of spine panel). Signed by the author, Philip Pullman.

First edition. Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pantalaimon, set out to stop her mother C who she hardly knows C from using her best friend and other kidnapped children from being used in a horrible experiment. Along the way she is assisted by witch clans, gyptians, and the great armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison. Winner of Britain's coveted Carnegie Medal for the finest children's novel of the year, this is the powerful, stunningly original first volume in Pullman's award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy C a work already being compared to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as one of the greatest works of fantasy.