The Kingdom and the Cave by Joan Aiken [U.S. FIRST EDITION] 1973

The Kingdom and the Cave by Joan Aiken 

U.S. FIRST EDITION [1973] DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY 

*Custom refurbished ex-library copy with all library materials removed; endpapers  fixed to inside covers.  Tiny handwritten code on title page. 

Hardcover with dust jacket in very good condition. 

Dust jacket is in great shape; some sunning to spine / sticker ghosting.  Looks beautiful in a new HQ brodart jacket protector.  Unclipped front panel with original jacket price of $4.50. 

Book itself is very nice; yellow cloth boards show tape remainder marks.  Reads very  nicely with a few odd stains. 

Joan Aiken's first published children's novel, written originally when she was 17.

Mickle, the Palace cat finds a mysterious message telling of a threat to the Kingdom of Astalon by the Under People. Prince Michael is helped by Mickle and his other animal friends Minerva the horse, Prince Nicodemus the water rat and many more, to rescue the King and Queen from danger when he learns the Universal Animal Language and joins his friends in battles and magic ceremonies to defeat the enemy.