NEIL GAIMAN (b.1960)
Coraline. London: Bloomsbury, 2002.
‘Fear of buttons is koumpounophobia’: first edition of Gaiman’s frightening fantasy novella, annotated by the author with 622 words across 32 pages and illustrated with original drawings of a large rat and a button-eyed face. Gaiman’s nightmarish fairy story is widely celebrated and was adapted into a stop-motion animated film in 2009. His annotations explain the origins of the story (‘Coraline as a name began as a typo’), the six-year hiatus during the writing process, and the reason the Bloomsbury edition was published without illustrations. He also writes about his sources and inspirations (‘What would Lewis Carroll do?’) and of his intentions for this story: ‘I didn’t ever want Coraline to be a story about a girl who went to the other place, learned moral & improving lessons, came back & put them into place. It had to be something other than a simple metaphor.’

Octavo. Original pictorial boards, dust jacket (annotations continue on rear panel).

Buyer’s premium is payable, with a significant portion donated by Christie’s to English PEN, but note that no VAT is payable on hammer price or buyer’s premium.
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