Potter, Beatrix.. The Fairy Caravan.. Philadelphia; David McKay Company, 1929., 1929.

Price: US$2315.47 + shipping

Description: INSCRIBED U.S. FIRST EDITION (preceding the U.K. First Edition). Octavo, pp. 225, [1]. Six colour plates including frontispiece, plus numerous line drawings within text including head- and tail-pieces and full page illustrations. Publisher's bottle green cloth with gilt titles and decoration to spine with printed title onlay illustrated in colour to upper board. Housed in a custom-made black morocco silk-lined clam-shell box, with gilt titles and decoration to upper. Cover cloth stained to lower board, gilt dulled; minor wear to spine tips and corners; onlay slightly scuffed but bright. Ownership name & address to front paste-down. Boldly inscribed to title page "Copyright of the Author in Great Britain witheld, entered at Stationers Hall" in Beatrix Potter's hand, and "Philadelphia" crossed through by her in the publisher's imprint. Inner margin p. 108/9 creased otherwise contents clean. A Very Good copy in fine clam-shell box. In 1929, Beatrix Potter realised that the U.S. publication of The Fairy Caravan would leave her lacking a British copyright; so she requested that her American publisher David McKay send her 100 sets of sheets to be privately published in Britain. These were bound up by George Middleton in Ambleside in a signed limited edition of 100 copies. Its seems highly likely that in writing such an explicit inscription to the title page Ms Potter was asserting her right to the copyright and using this copy to illustrate this to her UK publisher, as well as to provide him with the text for the UK title-page.

Seller: Keel Row Bookshop Ltd - ABA, ILAB & PBFA, Whitley Bay, United Kingdom

POTTER, Beatrix, as Beatrix Heelis.. The Fairy Caravan.. [Ambleside: for the Author,] 1929, 1929.

Price: US$25727.40 + shipping

Description: First edition, UK issue, number 26 of 100 copies only. A touching presentation copy, inscribed by Potter on the front free endpaper, "To Mr & Mrs Wight of Graythwaite - in affectionate remembrance - from Beatrix Heelis. June. 10th 1930", together with an autograph letter from Potter to the Wights laid-in. The letter consoles the Wights on the loss of Mollie, their daughter, and states that she had had it in mind to bring a copy of the book over for her: "I hope time is softening the pain of parting and that you can take comfort in thinking of her safe from the storms and cold of this earthly pilgrimage." She writes of her plans to visit soon, and notes an amusing anecdote of Mrs Wight's father ("I was taken aback when I joked about Mount Everest and he said he had been there!"). Several years later this copy made a serendipitous journey: it was mistakenly sold by Mrs Wight to a Kendal bookseller, resold to a bookseller in Hertford, and finally purchased by Leslie Linder. In a letter laid-in from Linder to Mrs Wight, he returns the book to its rightful owner, and asks in return not for payment but for any memories Mrs Wight might have of Potter. There is no record of Mrs Wight's reply, but Linder's response to her note also accompanies the book, thanking her "for the account of Mrs Heelis. I know from experience that notes like these are not written in five minutes." A photograph of Mr and Mrs Wight is also laid in. Linder p. 431; Quinby 29. Large octavo. Original grey green boards with dark green cloth spine, front cover lettered in black, all edges untrimmed. Housed in a custom blue velvet-lined folding box. 6 colour and numerous monochrome illustrations in the text by the author. Spine ends rubbed, front hinge split but holding, some spotting to first few leaves.

Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom