DEBORAH CROMBIE: A few weeks ago I ran across a new book about Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows that sounded interesting, and feeling nostalgic for Mole and Toad and the rest of the crew, I thought I'd skim through my copy of Willows.
I couldn't find it. I knew exactly what it looked like, with its Ernest Shepard illustrations, and I thought I knew exactly where it was. (I have a shelving system that makes sense to me, if to no one else!) I'm usually pretty good at putting my hands on a book, but not this time. After more frustrated searching, I thought I'd order a copy, but I wanted a hardcover with the Shepard illustrations.
Mine looked like this.
It turns out that you can't buy a new hardcover of The Wind in the Willows with the Shepard illustrations. I did, however, find a used copy online. There was only one little problem.
It was $11,000!
Eeek. Now I can't guarantee that mine was the 1931 1st edition, although it certainly looked like it. It had been around as long as I can remember, so I surmise it was probably bought for my brother, who was ten years older than me, in the 1940s.
This sent me into a panic about some of my other treasured books, so I had to check that my set of Shepard-illustrated A.A. Milnes were still exactly where I thought they should be.
These are 1950 editions, so I'm sure they were bought for me. I thought maybe I should look them up!
This set I found online is a mere $275!
