PHILIP PULLMAN (b.1946)
The Subtle Knife. London: Scholastic, 1997.
First edition, signed by the author and engagingly annotated with 756 words across 50 pages. The Subtle Knife is the second novel in Pullman’s critically acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been adapted multiple times for stage and screen, including a National Theatre production which premiered in 2003. Its protagonists Lyra and Will discover a knife which can cut through the fabric separating parallel universes, allowing them to travel between worlds. They venture to the city of Cittàgazze, which is populated by children and haunted by spectres which feed on the souls of adults.

Pullman’s annotations reveal his literary influences, including quotations from Paradise Lost, as well as insights into where he wrote particular passages, highlighting descriptive passages inspired by places in his home city of Oxford. He also offers a commentary on the illustrations in different chapters, created by the author himself, and includes a black and white image of a tree-lined road which inspired one of them (attached with a paperclip to p.15). Pullman also reflects on technological advancements since the novel’s publication in 1997 – he notes that if he had written The Subtle Knife today, the protagonist would have had a smartphone ‘and everything would have been easier for him, and harder for me.’

Octavo. Original green cloth, gilt lettering to the spine and a gilt embossed knife on the cover, pictorial dust jacket.

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