1938 1ST EDITION – MUSTARD, PEPPER AND SALT By Alison Uttley. 
 
VERY SCARCE and ILLUSTRATED Hardback Children’s Book. 230pp. A collection of FAIRY TALES. With NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY GWEN RAVERAT, including an illustrated title page. 
 
PUBLISHED IN 1938 BY FABER AND FABER, 24 Russell Square, London in Mcmxxxviii (1938). It is a FIRST PUBLISHED EDITION. Printed in Great Britain by Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd, Plymouth. 
 
This is a volume of fairy stories by Alison Uttley. THIS BOOK IS EXTREMELY RARE and finding an original 1938 edition can be challenging due to its rarity, so this is rather special. 
 
This is her only book illustrated by Gwen Raverat. Gwen Raverat was a pioneering English wood engraver, born in 1885 in Cambridge, notable for her significant contributions to the revival of wood engraving in the early 20th century. She was the granddaughter of the renowned naturalist Charles Darwin.
 
Alison Uttley, born as Alice Jane Uttley (17 December 1884 – 7 May 1976), was an English writer best known for her children's books. She had a prolific writing career and published over 100 books during her lifetime. Uttley's works often centred around rural life, nature, and historical fiction, and she had a keen eye for capturing the imaginations of young readers. 
 
This IS BOUND IN THE PUBLISHER’S ORIGINAL GREEN CLOTH, OVER BOARDS, with red titles and a small illustration on the spine. THE COVER IS INTACT AND ROBUST, but it does have some wear. This includes bumping and small rips to the corners, very small rips at the top and bottom of the spine, several light marks, discolouration on the spine, light rubbing at the edges, and there is a gentle lean to the spine. Please see the photographs provided for further reference. 
 
Inside, the pages are lightly tanned, which is consistent for a book of this age. THE PAGES ARE IN AN OVERALL NEAT CONDITION FOR THEIR AGE, BUT THERE ARE THE OCCASIONAL CREASE OR SMALL MARKS. These do not affect the text or illustrations. Several pages have a small rip at their edge, but these also do not affect the text or illustrations. There are also some rips and rubbing on the back pastedown (see photo). There is NO PEN OR PENCIL written inside this book. All the pages are secure and so there are NO LOOSE PAGES, but there is an issue with the binding and between a large handful of pages there are cracks in the gutter (examples are shown in the photos). There are NO MISSING PAGES and so all 230 PAGES are present. 
 
PLEASE STUDY THE PHOTOS CAREFULLY AS TO THE CONDITION OF THIS BOOK, AS THEY DO FORM PART OF THE DESCRIPTION. 
 
This measures approximately 20.8 cm by 13.8 cm and 3.4 cm wide. It weighs approximately 550 grams. 
 
Thank you for looking.