The Magic Finger. by DAHL, Roald - 1989

London: Unwin Hyman,, 1989. The Tony Ross edition First Ross edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on front free endpaper, "To Amy, with love, Roald Dahl". This title was first published in the US in 1966 and the UK in 1968. The current edition was the first time a new set of illustrations was used for this title. Dahl had originally begun work on The Magic Finger in 1962, under the original title of The Almost Ducks. In the story, an eight-year-old girl, who hates to see animals killed for fun, develops a special power, similar to that of Matilda. The book was part of a project in which a group of writers was asked to create a story for children with a limited vocabulary. Dahl, who was very much opposed to animal cruelty, wrote this anti-hunting story against "all the brave deer hunters and duck hunters in the country". However, Macmillan, who had originally commissioned the story, refused it. Then Knopf, Dahl's regular US publishers, also turned it down. Both, it has been suggested, were wary of repercussions from the US gun lobby. Octavo. Original blue boards, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. With black and white illustrations by Tony Ross. Head and foot of spine slightly bumped; unclipped and unpriced jacket: near-fine copy in like jacket.