£1,495.00
A group of three early Frederick Warne editions of Beatrix Potter’s celebrated children’s tales:
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny — Frederick Warne & Co., London and New York. Early edition, with a charming illustrated presentation inscription dated November 1905: “Annie L. McKay from Auntie Dora Nov. 1905”, surrounded by hand-drawn and coloured Potter characters.
The Tale of Tom Kitten — Frederick Warne & Co., London and New York. Early edition, with pencil annotation beneath the printed dedication apparently reading “Hill Top Farm.”
The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies — Frederick Warne & Co., London and New York, 1909. With an elaborate illustrated family presentation inscription “George Cave Day from Mother Xmas 1910”, surrounded by hand-drawn and coloured Potter characters; further contemporary pencil annotation to the half-title referring apparently to a garden at Gwaynynog, near Denbigh.
Original publisher’s pictorial boards, illustrated throughout in colour after Potter’s celebrated watercolours. The bindings show the expected rubbing, fading and wear associated with much-loved children’s books of this period, particularly Benjamin Bunny, while retaining considerable period character. Please refer to the photographs for the condition of each volume.
Sold together as a set of three.
Author: Beatrix Potter
Year: 1905–1910
Edition: Early Editions
Publisher: Frederick Warne & Co., London and New York
Few children’s books evoke Edwardian childhood quite like the small-format tales of Beatrix Potter. This appealing group brings together three of her best-loved stories — The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Tom Kitten, and The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies — in early Frederick Warne editions.
What makes this particular group especially charming is the evidence of its earliest owners preserved within the books.
Benjamin Bunny carries a delightful illustrated presentation inscription dated 1905, reading “Annie L. McKay from Auntie Dora Nov. 1905”, surrounded by hand-drawn and coloured representations of Potter characters, including Peter Rabbit and other familiar figures.
The Flopsy Bunnies, published in 1909, contains another particularly evocative family presentation: “George Cave Day from Mother Xmas 1910”, again incorporated into an accomplished hand-drawn decorative border populated by Potter characters. A further pencil annotation appears on the half-title, apparently recording a childhood association with a garden at Gwaynynog, near Denbigh.
Tom Kitten also retains an early pencil ownership/provenance annotation beneath Potter’s printed dedication, apparently reading “Hill Top Farm” — an intriguing association given the importance of Hill Top in Potter’s life and work. This should, however, be regarded simply as an early annotation rather than evidence of Potter provenance.
Together these inscriptions transform the three volumes into something more personal: tangible survivals from the period in which Potter’s stories were becoming part of British childhood.
The attraction here lies not simply in owning three early Beatrix Potter books, but in owning copies which retain their own Edwardian history.
The dated 1905 and Christmas 1910 presentation inscriptions are particularly appealing. Their carefully drawn Potter characters show how quickly her fictional world had entered children’s imaginations and family life.
Rather than detracting from the books, these contemporary inscriptions give the set genuine character and provenance. They demonstrate that these little volumes were given, treasured and read during Potter’s own lifetime, only a few years after the stories first appeared.
An attractive group for a collector of Beatrix Potter, early children’s literature, illustrated books, or Edwardian childhood and social history.
