Pullman, Philip (1995-2000) ‘His Dark Materials’, UK signed first edition set

Philip Pullman (1995-2000) ‘His Dark Materials‘ trilogy comprised of ‘Northern Lights‘ (1995); ‘The Subtle Knife‘ (1997); and ‘The Amber Spyglass‘ (2000), published by Scholastic in the UK. All three volumes are first editions, first printings, and all three volumes are signed by the author on the title page. The Subtle Knife is in addition inscribed: “with best wishes to Kay”.

Condition: all near fine condition with minimla shelf wear only as shown. No bookplates, no previous owner’s scribbles, no stamps. Internally clean. Books feel unread. The Northern Light dust jacket is the correct first state with the Pratt Street address at the rear flap. All dust jacket are NOT price clipped and near fine.

‘Northern Lights’ had a very low first print run of reportedly 1,000 copies only, with other sources reporting 2,000 copies. A big chunk of those books ended up in libraries with the usual stamps. Sometimes dealers camouflage this by attaching signed bookplates over the stamps.

Philip Pullman won the Carnegie Medal and the Carnegie of Carnegies for ‘Northern Lights’. He is also recipient of the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Award. Without any doubt, Pullman is the greatest British children fiction writer of our time. ‘His Dark Materials’ appeals to children and adults alike, whilst touching on serious subjects such as organised religion, reaching sexual maturity, philosophy and the latest scientific discoveries. Northern Lights was adapted as a Hollywood movie (as ‘The Golden Compass’) starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig which, however, was mediocre at best. The BBC and HBO were able to complete the adaptation of HDM as a TV-series (2019-22) to critical acclaim.