Dr. Seuss. Mcelligot's Pool. Random House, 1947.

Price: US$800.00 + shipping

Condition: Fair

Description: Signed by Dr. Seuss at bottom of dedication page. Hard cover published by Random House in 1947. Early printing of first edition (fish on cover has mouth closed and copyright page has 4 lines). No dust jacket. Blue-green covers with black lettering and fish on front. Corners are rounded, worn and frayed. Bottom end of spine is torn on both side and is frayed and sticking out some. Top end of spine is missing a small strip and is worn. Covers have edge wear and some scuffing. Inner hinges are split some at bottom. Several pages have spotting. Book is in fair condition. 4to, .8 lb.; 4to 11" - 13" tall; Signed by Author

Seller: Inside the Covers, Lancaster, TX, U.S.A.

Seuss, Dr. [Theodor Geisel]. McElligot's Pool.. Random House, New York, 1947.

Price: US$4500.00 + shipping

Description: First edition with the 250/250 price on the front flap as well as the $2.50 price added to the rear flap (state 'c') of the first Dr. Seuss title to feature full-color art on every other page. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author, "For Mrs. Haye with very kindest regards- Dr. Seuss." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Uncommon signed and inscribed. The story begins as a boy named Marco fishes in a small, trash-filled pond, McElligot's Pool. A local farmer laughs at the boy and tells him that he is never going to catch anything. Nevertheless, Marco holds out hope and begins to imagine a scenario in which he might be able to catch a fish. First, he suggests that the pool might be fed by an underground brook that travels under a highway and a hotel to reach the sea. Marco then imagines a succession of fish and other creatures that could be in the sea and therefore the pool. He imagines, among others, a fish with a checkerboard stomach, a seahorse with the head of an actual horse, and an eel with two heads. When Marco is done imagining, he tells the farmer, "Oh, the sea is a so full of a number of fish,/ If a fellow is patient, he might get his wish!" Geisel painted some of the water colors that illustrate McElligot's Pool while vacationing with his wife, Helen, at the summer home of their friend Kelvin Vanderlip, in southern California. The book was the first Dr. Seuss book to use water colors for its illustrations; however, because of budget concerns, Random House published half of the book in black and white, alternating between two pages in color and two pages in black and white. It became a Junior Literary Guild selection and garnered Dr. Seuss his first Caldecott Honor.

Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.