Over Sea, Under Stone

COOPER, Susan. Over Sea, Under Stone. Illustrated by Margery Gil. London: Jonathan Cape [1965]. 8vo, 252pp. Grey boards with spine stamped in gold. 4 double-page and 10 full-page b&w illustrations. Spine ends a tad rubbed, light foxing to edges of sheets, dampstain at upper corner of sheets extending to the margins of the first and last few leaves, else a tight copy in the original color pictorial dust jacket (some slight sunning and light soiling). Nonetheless, an attractive copy of this rare book! With a bookplate signed by the author, Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper, laid in!

First edition, having been issued a year prior the US edition. The first book in Cooper’s beloved and award-winning The Dark is Rising sequence. On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that – it’s the essential clue to finding a grail, a key source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark.