UDERZO (author and illustrator). Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge (translators). Asterix and the Magic Carpet. London; Hodder & Stoughton. 1988.

4to.; publisher’s laminated pictorial boards, dark blue pictorial endpapers; pp. 48; illustrated in colours in cartoon-strip format; externally and internally very fresh and clean with only a very minor bruise to spine tail, internally crisp and unmarked, without ownership inscription, priced £3.95 to lower cover.

First U.K. edition; published in French the previous year.  Issued without a dustwrapper.  This is the fourth title in the series to be both written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo following the death of René Goscinny in 1977.

An Indian fakir, Whaziznehm, drops from the sky on his magic carpet during a downpour caused by the discordant warblings of the tone-deaf bard Cacofonix, and lands in the Gaulish village.  His homeland in the far distant Ganges valley is suffering a drought and he is seeking someone who can conjure rain.  Asterix, Obelix and Cacofonix set off on the magic carpet to the East and have some compelling adventures involving pirate ships, storms, and a meeting with Julius Caesar.