The Princess and the Goblin

First published in 1872, this fairy novel is set in a mountain kingdom where Princess Irene lives in a castle above mines. Goblins, exiled underground, plot against the surface people; the miner's son Curdie overhears them and becomes Irene's ally. Irene's mysterious great-great-grandmother, who lives in a high room with a spinning wheel and a guiding thread, helps the child find her way. The action moves between nursery, cavern, and cottage as the goblin scheme comes to a head. The book is a children's fantasy of courage and hidden help, not a court chronicle.

Bound in dark blue buckram, cover blocked with a red and grey design by Madalina Andronic. Dark orange slipcase.