Moominland Midwinter - Color Edition (light wear) - Tove Jansson

Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson / ISBN 9781908745996 / 175-page hardback (fifth in the Moomins series), published by Sort Of Books (UK) / new copies with minor cover wear from international shipping / larger in size than the series hardback available here

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A Fabulous Find from the Moomin Archives - a classic Moomin Book with color illustrations and a fold-out panorama

In 1961, at the request of her Italian publishers, Tove Jansson created a unique new edition of Moominland Midwinter, the tale in which Moomin wakes from hibernation to contend alone with the mysterious world of winter. The text and internal line drawings of this much loved story were unchanged, but Tove added a beautiful new cover illustration and seven glorious full-page colour illustrations. This was the only Moomin title that she illustrated in colour and it has long been a prized item for collectors. For the first time, it is available in English.

For this new Sort Of edition, Tove's nephew James Zambra restored the original cover and colour illustrations, along with a glorious fold-out panorama of characters from the book, which Tove Jansson painted for the first French edition. Sort Of Books have also added a back cover designed for the first Swedish edition of Moominland Midwinter, an image used on the first Puffin book, and a playful bookplate 'wreath' from the first German book. We believe this is the most beautiful Moomin book ever published!

Tove Jansson (1914–2001) was born in Helsinki and spent much of her life in Finland. She is the author of the Moomin books, including Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll. Born into an artistic family―her father was a sculptor and her mother was a graphic designer and illustrator―Jansson studied at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, and L'École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In addition to her Moomin books, she also wrote several novels, drew comic strips and worked as a painter and illustrator. In 1966, she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her body of work. Jansson had a studio in Helsinki but spent most of her time at her home on a small island called Klovharu.