Happy Pair, A.
$28,500 · Offered by Biblio
First edition
London: Hildesheimer & Faulkner, 1890. Beatrix Potter's First Published Book The Book That Launched One of the Most Beloved Careers in Children's Literature [POTTER, Beatrix, illustrator]. A Happy Pair. By Frederic E. Weatherly. Illustrated by H.B.P. [Helen Beatrix Potter]. London: Hildesheimer & Faulkner, [1890]. First edition. Duodecimo (4 3/4 x 4 inches; 120 x 102 mm.). [14] pp. Six magnificent full-page chromolithographed illustrations of rabbits by Beatrix Potter, together with her charming pictorial wrappers, all reproduced in rich contemporary color. Publisher's original pictorial chromolithographed wrappers illustrated by Potter, sewn with the original silk cord, all edges gilt. A large but predominantly pale stain affecting the title-page and first few leaves, with only minimal effect on the illustrations; otherwise an exceptionally well-preserved example of this fragile publication. Housed in a handsome felt-lined full green morocco clamshell case, decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt. A Happy Pair occupies an unrivaled place in Beatrix Potter's bibliography as her first published book and the work that introduced her illustrations to the public. Before The Tale of Peter Rabbit, before Frederick Warne, and more than a decade before she revolutionized children's publishing, Potter was an ambitious young artist searching for a publisher willing to recognize her extraordinary talent. Her own journal records the story. In May 1890 she described her disappointment af
- Publisher: London: Hildesheimer & Faulkner, 1890
- Edition: First Edition
- Binding: unknown
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