Generous note reveals wartime friend may have helped Roald Dahl with his first book
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and The Twits.
But an intriguing new discovery suggests Roald Dahl may have been given more than a helping hand by a friend at the very start of his career.
Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers has unearthed a copy of Dahl’s first book, The Gremlins, published in 1943, which contains the note: “To John, who wrote the bloody thing anyway. Roald Dahl, 25/5/43.”
The rare first edition was a presentation copy gifted to John Alexander, who befriended Dahl when the pair served together during the Second World War.
Experts believe Alexander helped come up with the plot for the book, which Dahl wrote for Walt Disney Productions. It featured mischievous mythical creatures – the “gremlins” of the title – which were often invoked by RAF pilots as an explanation of mechanical troubles and mishaps.
In Dahl’s story, the gremlins’ motivation for sabotaging
British aircraft is revenge for the destruction of their forest home, which was razed to make way for an aircraft factory. The principal character, Gus, has his Hawker Hurricane fighter destroyed over the English Channel by a gremlin, but is able to convince the creatures as they parachute into the water together that they should join forces against a common enemy – Hitler and the Nazis – rather than fight each other.
The copy, which is being sold by a relative of Alexander’s, is expected to fetch up to £4,000 when it goes under the hammer in an online auction. It includes corrections by Dahl in pencil, including two instances where Dahl has amended “Barry” to “Gus”, and an arrow with the word “No” pointing to a colour illustration of a gremlin next to a teapot.
Jim Spencer, head of Hansons’ library department, said: “The provenance for the item is established by descent from John Alexander to our vendor. For any Dahl fan, this book is a remarkable collector’s item. Not only does it take us back to Dahl’s early days, that personal note provides an insight into the warmth of his character.”