Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$4875.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Greenaway, Kate. A APPLE PIE [INSCRIBED BY GREENAWAY TO HER PATRON, LOCKER-LAMPSON, IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION]. London and New York: George Routledge and Sons, [1886]. FIRST EDITION [Schuster & Engen: 1a]. Oblong 4to - 8-5/8" x 10-1/2". Original red cloth backed color pictorial light green glazed paper covered boards with titles printed in red and full color picture of four young girls and a whole lot of apples to both front and back covers with very minor light soiling, a couple of touches of rubbing to the bottom edges, and light wear to three of the corners for what is a lovely copy of the book. Dark blue endpapers with the bookplates of Frederick Locker-Lampson and William Harris Arnold to front pastedown; all edges stained red. [44] pp. A Apple Pie is an alphabet book that pairs each letter with an action that could happen to the titular pie, e.g., A: Apple Pie, B: Bit It, C: Cut It, D: Dealt It, etc., or, as the Library of Congress' description states: "Introduces the letters A to Z while following the fortunes of an apple pie;" illustrated with 20 chromolithographed plates "Engraved and Printed by Edmund Evans" after drawings by Kate Greenaway. PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY GREENAWAY TO HER PATRON FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION as follows: 'F Locker-Lampson / from / Kate Greenaway / 1886." The condition of the book is VERY GOOD +. Provenance: Frederick Locker-Lampson (inscribed to him by Greenaway in 1886; his bookplate); William Harris Arnold (his bookplate; his sale in New York at Anderson Galleries on November 10, 1924, lot 378).
Seller: Wallace & Clark, Booksellers, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$7200.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, the Grolier 100 copy, inscribed by Kate Greenaway with three original sketches of young girls. First published in the eighteenth century, the ABC rhyme "The Tragical Death of A Apple Pye" appeared in countless chapbooks before Greenaway produced this colorful large-format edition. Her vibrant illustrations depict a crowd of children in Regency dress tussling over the oversized pie of the title. Finally, in Greenaway's original closing rhyme, "U V W X Y Z / All had a large slice / and went off to bed." A Apple Pie was a resounding popular success, although the book caused some tension between Greenaway and her friend John Ruskin, who disliked the stylized feet, "literal paddles and flappers," of Greenaway's children. Greenaway has inscribed this copy to Joan Ponsonby, born in 1887, the granddaughter of her close friends Gerald and Maria Ponsonby. The ink sketches of young girls that frame the gift inscription may be portraits of little Joan herself. Schuster & Engen, 1.1a; Grolier 100 Books Famous in Children's Literature, 50 (this copy). A near-fine presentation copy of a Victorian classic, with original artwork by Kate Greenaway. Oblong quarto, measuring 8.5 x 10 inches: [22]. Original red cloth spine, pale green color-printed pictorial boards, all edges stained red, deep blue coated endpapers. Half-title and title page printed in brown ink. Color-printed wood engravings by Edmund Evans after watercolors by Greenaway on each page, printed on rectos only. Ink presentation inscription on half-title, framed by three sketches of young girls: "Joan Ponsonby from Kate Greenaway / 1891." Lightest shelfwear and occasional smudge to binding. Housed in a custom chemise and slipcase.
Seller: Honey & Wax Booksellers, ABAA, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.