Hannibal, 1958, Series 561 (revised style cover)

Hannibal was one of the last Ladybird books to be written by L du Garde Peach and one of the last to be issued with a full-page colour picture.  It was the 38th book in the series.  It was illustrated by Frank Humphris.  Because this book dates from the period that Ladybird was sold, it was only issued with this cover for a very short period.  Under new owners who were keep to ring the changes, later versions of this book have the blue framed cover.  Only the first edition has the traditional style cover – and is now quite rare.

This copy:

This matt copy has the revised style cover.  The covers are in very good condition inside and out.  There’s only minimal wear to the boards and nice, clean pages.  In short, a very good copy of a rare book.  It dates from the 1970s and has the original price of 24p on the back.