Christopher Columbus, 1961, Series 561 (DJ)

Christopher Columbus was the 12th title in the 561 series, colourfully written by L du Garde Peach and illustrated by John Kenney.

The adventures of Christopher Columbus are not as popular a topic for children’s history as they used to be.  Perhaps that’s because explorers are now bound up with the concept of empire and exploitation – or perhaps because later research makes us question who really was the first person to ‘discover’ the Americas and what that actually means.  Anyway, it’s a good tale, well-told and beautifully illustrated (of course).

This copy:

This copy still has its original dustwrapper (not price-clipped).  Both book and DJ are in very good condition – only light wear the the dj and boards and nice, clean pages (a neat name to foot of front endpapers and title page).  It is the last title listed on the back DJ flap so I believe it to be a first edition.