Written by Will Huygen.
Illustrated bye Rien Poortvliet.
Published by Unieboek B.V. / Van Holkema & Warendorf in 1977.
First English-Language Edition
Binding: Hardback
Condition: Excellent (the book itself in lovely condition, but with a small inscription to a previous owner on the title page. The dust jacket has some minor discolouration but is still crisp and otherwise undamaged.
Gnomes was originally published in Dutch in 1976 as Leven en werken van de kabouter ('Life and work of the gnomes'). It was then first released in English in 1977, in this beautiful hardback edition you see here.
A fiction book written by Will Huygen and the and phenomenally talented illustrator Rien Poortvliet, it explains the life and habitat of gnomes in an in-universe fashion, much as a biology book would do, complete with illustrations and textbook notes.
The book was amazingly well received by critics. Huygen's writing, which mixed physiology with fiction, and Poortvliet's drawings, which used a natural style and watercolour, got the whole world talking.
Gnomes sold almost a million units after its first year of being published in the United States. Its financial success led to the creation of several spin-off books about the same fictional creatures, as well as many other products, such as toys, clothing and games.
This increasingly valuable first edition of an iconic publication is in great condition.