At the Back of the North Wind (The Stories All Children Love Series)

342 pp. 4to. Red cloth, gilt titles, stamped illustration in black on front board, illustrated endpapers, and color frontispiece and plates (12 total) by Maria Louise Kirk, who sometimes went by M.L. Kirk and sometimes by Maria L. Kirk. The work was originally serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered around a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind. Diamond travels together with the mysterious Lady North Wind through the nights. The book includes the fairy tale Little Daylight, which has been pulled out as an independent work, or separately, added to other collections of his fairy tales. In this book, MacDonald touches on many theological and philosophical questions, especially concerning theodicy. Today, it is considered one of his masterpieces. According to MacDonald's son and biographer Greville MacDonald there are many similarities between Diamond and MacDonald's son Maurice who died young. Diamond seems to represent Christ, always trying to help others while not completely belonging to this world.