Neil Gaiman (author of Good Omens, Coraline and many more) said of Desbarollda, The Waltzing Mouse:
“I read the first paragraph and was hooked. A sixty-three page eighteenth century novel in the grand manner about a waltzing mouse. Of course.”
See if you’ll be hooked by Desbarollda — the first three chapters are available, free, for you to view online or download. Just select one of the links below.
Online version
PDF version (506 KiB)
Mobipocket version (285 KiB)
Note that the the illustrations in these samples are in monochrome.
Durrant Software currently publishes two editions of Desbarollda, one with monochrome illustrations (as in the sample chapters above) and one with the illustrations in full colour, just like the original 1947 edition.
You can buy the either edition from Amazon UK or Amazon US using these links:
In the first edition, Desbarollda, The Waltzing Mouse was described as
“Mr. Noel Langley’s epic pastiche in the grand classic heroic manner, wherein he pays glowing homage to the nice sensibility and decorous passions that are the special elixir of the artistic temperament, whether it inhabit Heathcliff, Manon Lescaut, the Mock Turtle or Desbarollda the Waltzing Mouse.”
Out of print since it was originally published by Lindsay Drummond Limited in 1947, Noel Langley’s “studiously and faithfully compiled” history of Desbarollda the Waltzing Mouse in now widely available once more.
The colour wrap-around cover picture is by Edward Ardizzone, as are the 15 decorated capitals and 16 illustrations.
Click on the small image to see a big version of the cover.
The monochrome edition is an eighty page 5"x8"paperback, with a full-colour cover and a black and white interior, ISBN 978-1-905946-02-0
The colour edition is an eighty page 5.5"x8.5"paperback, with a full-colour cover and a full colour interior, ISBN 978-1-905946-01-3
Desbarollda, The Waltzing Mouse is still in copyright.
The text is Copyright © 1947 Christopher Langley
The illustrations are Copyright © 1947 The Estate of Edward Ardizzone
All rights reserved.
If you have any problems with this web site please
contact Paul Durrant at webmaster@durrantpublishing.co.uk
Last updated 12 September 2009
