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The Nutcracker

Alexandre Dumas

Illustrated by Taylor Dolan

First Printing

Based on the original by E.T.A. Hoffmann

Step into the enchanting world of The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann, now available in a magical Folio Society edition. Illustrated by Taylor Dolan with a perfect blend of imagination, nostalgia and a modern twist, this edition brings a fresh and whimsical charm to the beloved holiday classic.​

£49.95
£49.95
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Average score from 21 Reviews
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Editor’s Note
  1. Mandy Kirkby, Editor

A Christmas Eve like no other and a young girl, Marie, receives a handsomely decorated nutcracker from her mysterious godfather. As the clock strikes midnight, the room comes alive with a battle between the Nutcracker and the fearsome Mouse King and leads Marie on an enchanting  journey through Christmas forests, sugar plum and marzipan palaces to a magical world of toys. The strangeness and loveliness of this enduring Christmas tale is matched by Taylor Dolan’s illustrations, full of imagination and nostalgia but peppered with wonderful and surprising oddities.

Alexandre Dumas’s retelling of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original story, the inspiration behind Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, is finally available as a sumptuous Folio edition. Your Christmas Eve now has a new tradition!​

Bound in printed and blocked textured paper  ​

Set in Founder’s Caslon with Zebrawood as display​

128 pages with 6 integrated colour illustrations, 3 part-title illustrations and a number of colour decorations ​

Printed endpapers  ​

Screen-printed die-cut slipcase  ​

Sized at 10˝ x 7½˝

‘The Nutcracker is like one of those glowing glass globes that you can shake and see the snow swirl. It's a dream bubble, a vision of middle-class happiness and fantasy that precedes the Russian Revolution and all the horrors of the last century and this one. That world may have faded, but it is still our sweetest dream.’
  1. New York Times

A young girl named Marie is swept into a magical world on Christmas Eve when her beloved Nutcracker comes to life. As midnight strikes, the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary, and Marie finds herself in the midst of a battle between the Nutcracker and the fearsome Mouse King. With bravery and a heart full of wonder, Marie journeys through enchanting realms, from the Land of Sweets to the glittering kingdom ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy. Hoffmann’s tale is a timeless adventure, inviting readers into a world where courage, imagination, and a touch of magic lead to the most unexpected of journeys. A beloved story, celebrating the wonders of childhood and the enduring power of imagination.​

About Alexandre Dumas père

Alexandre Dumas père (1802–1870) was a bestselling French author whose works still enjoy global renown and are frequently adapted for film, TV, and other media. Dumas grew up in Picardy in northern France and, as a young man, went to Paris, where he worked for the future king, Louis-Philippe, but was quickly diverted by the theatre: his dramas, often with historical settings, were hugely popular. From the 1840s, he concentrated on fiction; his novels such as The Three Musketeers (1844, Folio 2001) and The Count of Monte Cristo (1846, Folio 1999) – romantic, exciting, and colourful – sold in large numbers in France and in translation. In 2002, Dumas’s ashes were reinterred in the Panthéon in Paris – a symbol of the belated recognition of his greatness.

About E.T.A. Hoffmann

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) was one of the major authors of the Romantic period in Germany. His extraordinarily innovative writings include a satirical novel purporting to be the autobiography of a cat, as well as the tales of fantasy and horror for which he is best known today, such as The Sandman (1816) and the fairy tale Undine (1816). Hoffmann also composed instrumental and vocal music and wrote a number of librettos for opera and musical drama. Brought up in Prussia, he lived for periods in Warsaw, Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden, employed as a clerk in the state service and repeatedly forced to move by disruption caused by the Napoleonic Wars. He died of syphilis in Berlin, aged 46.

About Taylor Dolan

Taylor Dolan is a freelance illustrator living in Galway, Ireland. She completed a Master’s in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art in 2018. Dolan’s illustrations have been commissioned by HarperCollins, Levi’s, Scoop magazine and hitrecord.org, and her work has been exhibited in London, Edinburgh, Paris and Nanjing. Having studied theatre from the age of seven and performed in over 40 productions, including the Emmy-winning HitRECord on TV, Dolan brings theatre expertise as well as her distinctive style to her illustrations. Her previous Folio Society commission was for The Phantom of the Opera (2019).​

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