Author: POTTER, Beatrix
Title: Tale of Little Pig Robinson, the
Description: Philadelphia: David McKay Company, 1930. The Scarce First American Edition of “Little Pig Robinson,” Containing Twenty-Five Black and White Illustrations Not Found in the English Edition POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Little Pig Robinson. Philadelphia: David McKay Company, [1930]. First American edition, containing twenty-five black and white illustrations not found in the English edition. Small quarto (8 1/4 x 6 5/16 inches; 209 x 161 mm.). [6], 141, [1, blank] pp. Inserted color frontispiece and five inserted color plates, black and white vignette on title-page and thirteen black and white vignettes in the text (chapter head- and tail-pieces), and thirty-four full-page illustrations in black and white. Publisher's dark green cloth with large color pictorial label on front cover. Spine decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt. Pictorial endpapers printed in green. Minimal rubbing to spine extremities, mainly at foot of spine, small light stain on edge of covers. An excellent copy. “In her letter of July 8th 1930, Beatrix Potter told Mr. McKay that Frederick Warne & Co’s scheme ‘is going to leave out a number of illustrations which I consider the best,’ adding, ‘but I hope you may care to include them in the U.S.A. edition-It is a good book to illustrate, I should quite enjoy doing a few more! If you want any to fill up—just tell me the number of the (type written) page, as I have kept the duplicates.’ Mr. McKay was willing to produce a book with more black and white drawings than Warnes, and the American edition contains twelve more drawings, plus thirteen ‘heads and tails’ to the chapters. Referring to these latter as ‘chapter ends’, Beatrix Potter told Mr. McKay, ‘I think myself that some of the “chapter ends” are the best drawing of any.’ She sent him sixteen for the eight chapters, but owing to lack of space, only thirteen were used. Of the other drawings she said, ‘I think Pig Robinson looking into a shop window is the best black-and-white.’ The color plates were the same in both English and American editions [except for the color illustration on the front cover which in the English edition appears only as a line drawing]” (Linder, pp. 257-258). A story inspired by Edward Lear's nonsense poem The Owl and the Pussy Cat and set against "a comprehensive sample of our much battered coasts" (according to a letter from the author in 1941), Pig Robinson was the last of the Peter Rabbit series. It was however one of the earliest stories Beatrix conceived, its fruition dating back to a holiday in Ilfracombe in 1883. To smooth ruffled feathers at Frederick Warne after giving American publishers David McKay The Fairy Caravan (see Lot 36), Beatrix offered Pig Robinson to both for publication, though the American edition contains twelve more pen & ink illustrations and numerous additional head- & tail-pieces. The use of the 'word' "fatterer" did initially perturb publishers McKay, but they acquiesced when the author explained "I agree with all your corrections, except possibly 'fatterer! Of course there is no such word; but it is expressive!" Linder, p. 432; Quinby 30A. .
Keywords: Illustrated Books
See more books from our catalog: Children's Books
Title: Tale of Little Pig Robinson, the
Description: Philadelphia: David McKay Company, 1930. The Scarce First American Edition of “Little Pig Robinson,” Containing Twenty-Five Black and White Illustrations Not Found in the English Edition POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Little Pig Robinson. Philadelphia: David McKay Company, [1930]. First American edition, containing twenty-five black and white illustrations not found in the English edition. Small quarto (8 1/4 x 6 5/16 inches; 209 x 161 mm.). [6], 141, [1, blank] pp. Inserted color frontispiece and five inserted color plates, black and white vignette on title-page and thirteen black and white vignettes in the text (chapter head- and tail-pieces), and thirty-four full-page illustrations in black and white. Publisher's dark green cloth with large color pictorial label on front cover. Spine decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt. Pictorial endpapers printed in green. Minimal rubbing to spine extremities, mainly at foot of spine, small light stain on edge of covers. An excellent copy. “In her letter of July 8th 1930, Beatrix Potter told Mr. McKay that Frederick Warne & Co’s scheme ‘is going to leave out a number of illustrations which I consider the best,’ adding, ‘but I hope you may care to include them in the U.S.A. edition-It is a good book to illustrate, I should quite enjoy doing a few more! If you want any to fill up—just tell me the number of the (type written) page, as I have kept the duplicates.’ Mr. McKay was willing to produce a book with more black and white drawings than Warnes, and the American edition contains twelve more drawings, plus thirteen ‘heads and tails’ to the chapters. Referring to these latter as ‘chapter ends’, Beatrix Potter told Mr. McKay, ‘I think myself that some of the “chapter ends” are the best drawing of any.’ She sent him sixteen for the eight chapters, but owing to lack of space, only thirteen were used. Of the other drawings she said, ‘I think Pig Robinson looking into a shop window is the best black-and-white.’ The color plates were the same in both English and American editions [except for the color illustration on the front cover which in the English edition appears only as a line drawing]” (Linder, pp. 257-258). A story inspired by Edward Lear's nonsense poem The Owl and the Pussy Cat and set against "a comprehensive sample of our much battered coasts" (according to a letter from the author in 1941), Pig Robinson was the last of the Peter Rabbit series. It was however one of the earliest stories Beatrix conceived, its fruition dating back to a holiday in Ilfracombe in 1883. To smooth ruffled feathers at Frederick Warne after giving American publishers David McKay The Fairy Caravan (see Lot 36), Beatrix offered Pig Robinson to both for publication, though the American edition contains twelve more pen & ink illustrations and numerous additional head- & tail-pieces. The use of the 'word' "fatterer" did initially perturb publishers McKay, but they acquiesced when the author explained "I agree with all your corrections, except possibly 'fatterer! Of course there is no such word; but it is expressive!" Linder, p. 432; Quinby 30A. .
Keywords: Illustrated Books
Price: US$ 950.00 Seller: David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)
- Book number: 06119
- Book number: 06119
See more books from our catalog: Children's Books