Santa Claus in Summer by Compton Mackenzie first edition 1924

MACKENZIE, Compton. Santa Claus in Summer.
 
London, Constable & Co. Ltd., 1924.
 
First edition, 8vo, viii, 298 pp.; illustrated throughout with numerous vignette and text illustrations by A.H. Watson. Publisher’s pictorial cloth, in the scarce colour pictorial dust-jacket designed by Watson. Jacket with small puncture to spine, short tear at foot of front panel, and some chipping to upper edge; contemporary ink price “7/6” to spine; a little general creasing and rubbing, but notably complete and visually striking. Cloth with a couple of light bumps; front inner hinge a little loose at the preliminary gathering though holding firmly. Some scattered spotting, chiefly to preliminaries. Overall a very good copy in the uncommon original jacket.
 
A whimsical and now elusive children’s fantasy by Compton Mackenzie, blending nursery-rhyme figures, fairy-tale episodes, and seasonal fantasy into an extended imaginative narrative. Better remembered for his Highland 'galore' novels and his autobiographical 'memories' books, Mackenzie here produced one of his most ambitious works for children, richly enhanced by the distinctly modern illustrations of A.H. Watson. The striking dust-jacket, with its bold orange-and-blue design and grotesque smiling sun, is particularly memorable and seldom survives in such complete form.