Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Title: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Author: Eliot, T.S.

Publication: New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1982.

Description: First edition, first printing of the Edward Gorey-illustrated edition of T.S. Eliot's classic collection of poems about cats. With a half-title. Numerous black-and-white cat illustrations by Edward Gorey throughout, including many full-page illustrations. Bound in quarter beige cloth with orange paper over boards, with lettering and a cat illustration stamped in orange. In original orange pictorial dust jacket. 8.25 x 5.75 inches; [8], 56 pages. Closed tears (1.25 and .75 inches) on the front and rear panel of the price-clipped dust jacket and a few tiny spots of soiling to the binding. Near Fine in a Very Good dust jacket. A collectible copy with a very clean interior and a bright dust jacket, not heavily sunned as is often the case.

The "Cats" musical, by Andrew Lloyd Webber, is based on the poems in this book. This edition came out the same year that "Cats" premiered on Broadway, a year after it opened in London.