Richard the Lion Heart 1965, Series 561 (DJ)

Richard the Lionheart is the 19th title in the 561 series, colourfully written by L du Garde Peach and illustrated by John Kenney and was one of the last Ladybird books to be originally published with a dustwrapper.  In this colourful telling of the life of Richard, writer L du Garde Peach makes it clear that he was not a fan of ‘the Lionheart’.  It is one of the least sympathetic portraits of any of the books written by Peach.  The first edition of this title was published with a dustwrapper.

This copy.

Matt boards.  The dustwrapper is not price-clipped but is grubby, marked and generally tired-looking. There’s also a scuff to the back panel (see photos).  The book is in better condition, however, with clean pages.  Since only the first edition was ever issued with a DJ, that makes this book the hardest to find in the series with dustwrapper instead of matt boards.  A decent copy of quite a scarce book.