Author's first book. First edition, first printing with matching dates of 1972 on the title and copyright pages as well as no subsequent printings mentioned on the copyright. With "Printed in Great Britain by Bristol Typesetting Co., Ltd. Barton Manor, St. Philips, Bristol." at the bottom of the copyright page. Octavo. 413 pages with full-color fold-out map at end. First Edition
Original tan cloth binding with gilt lettering at spine and gilt illustration on recto board.
Watership Down is the first and most successful novel by the British author, Richard Adams. It is a heroic fantasy about a small group of rabbits who live in their natural environment, but are anthropomorphised possessing their own culture, language (Lapine), proverbs, poetry and mythology. Evoking epic themes, the novel recounts the rabbits' odyssey as they escape the destruction of their warren to seek a place in which to establish a new home, encountering perils and temptations along the way. The novel takes its name from the rabbits' destination Watership Down a hill in the north of the county of Hampshire near the area where Adams grew up. The story is based on a collection of tales that Adams told to his young children to pass the time on trips to the countryside. Adams's descriptions of wild rabbit behaviour were much influenced by The Private Life of the Rabbit, by British naturalist Ronald Lockley. Though it was initially rejected by thirteen publishers, Watership Down has never been out of print and was the recipient of several prestigious awards. Adapted into an acclaimed classic film and a TV series it is Penguin Books’ best-selling novel of all time.
