copyright 1944; International Collectors Library, Garden City, New York; includes the original flyer from the International Collectors Library (pic); illustrated by Margaret Ayer; hardbound in red boards with gilt decor and lettering on cover and spine; very good condition with very minor ageing; red silk page marker.
 
description -
Anna and the King is a 1944 semi-fictionalized biographical novel by Margaret Landon.
 
In the early 1860s, Anna Leonowens, a widow with two young children, was invited to Siam (now Thailand) by King Mongkut (Rama IV), who wanted her to teach his children and wives the English language and introduce them to British customs. Her experiences during the five years she spent in the country served as the basis for two memoirs, The English Governess at the Siamese Court (1870) and Romance of the Harem (1872).
 
Landon took Leonowens' first-person narratives and enhanced them with details about the Siamese people and their culture culled from other sources. The book has been translated into dozens of languages and has inspired at least six adaptations into various dramatic mediums:
 
Anna and the King of Siam (1946 film)
The King and I (1951 stage musical)
The King and I (1956 film musical)
Anna and the King (1972 TV series)
The King and I (1999 animated film musical)
Anna and the King (1999 film)

At the time of its publication, The New York Times called it "an inviting escape into an unfamiliar, exotic past . . . calculated to transport us instantly." The Atlantic Monthly described it as "enchanting" and added, "the author wears her scholarship with grace, and the amazing story she has to tell is recounted with humor and understanding".