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Peter Pan and Wendy

BARRIE, J M Reissue. 16 x 23.8 cm blue boards with blind stamped borders and gilt stamped titles to the spine. Top edge blue, pictorial endpapers 320pp with 12 tipped in plates, pictorial title page and 19 black and white illustrations within the text. With original price clipped dust jacket. There is a little marking to the front board and a touch of rubbing to the spine tips and corners. Internally there is a gift inscription on the front free endpaper dated 1929 and a short split in the endpapers and the front of the book but the binding is firm. There is a littleacid migration toning to the endpapers where not protected by dust jacket flap and very occasional light spotting, mainly to the first few and last few pages and to the edge of the text block. The plates are all in fine condition. The dust jacket which is now protected in a removable, clear cover (not shown) is a little dust stained with toning to the spine and rubbing to the front pastedown image. There are a number of short tears and creases along the top and bottom edges with reinforcement to the verso at the spine tips, bottom corners and on the front panel protecting a 2.5 cm closed tear. There is minor loss to the joint tips and corners. All in all a very nice early copy of this Attwell illustrated book. Rainford & Parris Books welcomes enquiries, so please do not hesitate to ask if you require further images or have any questions. All books are packaged with great care.
Heidi's Early Experiences and Heidi's Further Experiences

Heidi’s Early Experiences and Heidi’s Further Experiences

SPYRI, Johanna 12 x18.2 cm boards in uniform black & gilt decorated dark green cloth, all edges gilt, bound using three staples, no half title page; vol.1 - frontispiece, cancel title page, [1], contents, [1], 288pp with dark blue/green endpapers, 2 further engraved plates (with page ref.s); vol.2 as vol.1 but without frontispiece, 208pp, khaki green endpapers and 4 engraved plates (without page ref.s). We believe both volumes to have been produced by Friedrich Andreas Perthes as part of their original production. Both have cancel title pages for Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington (who traded under this exact name at the Crown Buildings, 188 Fleet Street address shown on the title page, between 1874 -1887). Both volumes have the same ownership name to the verso of the front free endpaper. The joints have rubbed through in places (vol.1: upper joint 2cm at the top & 5.5cm bottom and lower joint 5.5cm; vol.2 2.5 cm at the top of the lower joint) as have the spine ends – please see images. The corners are lightly rubbed and the boards have general light age related soiling, more obviously to the back covers. The pages are reasonably clean but there are various marks throughout: finger marks, a few drip marks, dark spots and some marking visible at the gutter surrounding staples. Both inner hinges are intact and the bindings are firm and square. Seemingly, this set is the most scarce of all the scarce early English language editions. Other than this copy, we can find no record of a Sampson Low (SL) set having sold at auction and we have only been able to trace the existence of one other copy held in a US institution (this copy too has both volumes in the same colour). Records concerning the early publications of both volumes are somewhat scant. The exact date of publication of the first volume (Heidi's Early Experiences ) is unknown but appears accepted as being 1882, as it was listed as such in The Westminster Review in 1883, and was published by Spyri's German publisher, Friedrich Andreas Perthes. The date of the second volume (Heidi's Further Experiences ) is less clear but generally asserted as being 1884, and appears in various states with publisher combinations of Perthes and W Swan Sonnenchein (WSS). All of the Perthes/WSS sets that we have found, though, comprise vol.1 in a dark cloth and vol.2 in a light cloth and we have not found any in matching cloth. Interestingly, both front covers have the title "Heidi's Early Adventures", volume two does not change to "Heidi's Further Experiences", as the title page does. However, we do know that both volumes of this Sampson Low set were published in 1884, as they are listed on page 542 of the English Catalogue of Books vol. IV (covering Jan 1881 – Dec 1889). Both volumes are bound in uniform dark green cloth (the same as for vol.1 of the WSS sets), both with cancel title pages, and both with Heidi's Early Adventures on the front cover. It would appear that this is the first complete British set that and was published in 1884. (interestingly, both R B Russell's First Edition Prices Index and the Book Collector Rare Book Price Guide listed the first UK Edition of Heidi as being published by Sampson Low - at least in the editions we have seen). It seems clear that both WSS & SL copies of vol.2 were published by Perthes (the Christie's description for lot 83 sold on 16 Nov. 2005 stated: "Perthes published the first volume of this English translation under his own imprint, and printed the sheets for the second volume which was published by Sonnenschein in London "). Perthes appears to have appointed SL as well as WSS to act as a seller, or possibly, WSS made a separate arrangement with SL. The fact that both SL volumes are in the same dark green cloth as the original Perthes and WSS volume 1 copies is intriguing. All other publisher copies that we have traced have the volume two in a lighter green cloth. There are a couple of possible scenarios that could explain this but we have been unable
  • $14,796
  • $14,796
book (2)

Cinderella

EVANS, C. S. 1st Trade Edition. 18.7 x 25.8 cm pictorial paper covered boards, uncut bottom edge, green pictorial endpapers 110[2]pp 1 tipped in coloured plate, tricolour silhouette pictorial title page with tissue guard and 3 double tricolour silhouette illustrations and with 2 double page 9 single page and 25 black and white silhouette illustrations by Arthur Rackham within the text. In original dust jacket with 7/6 net price to the spine. The book has been well protected by the dust jacket and has clean bright boards and an unfaded spine. The spine is firm but there is just a hint of shelf wear along the bottom edge and a little rubbing to the corners. Internally there is a gift inscription dated 1919 on the front free endpaper. There is evidence of rubbed out prices on the front free endpaper and the half title page. There is occasional spotting mainly to the edges, tissue-guard and the first few pages. The dust jacket which, is now protected in a removable clear cover (not shown), presents well and is clean with just a touch of rubbing to the spine tips and corners and loss to the head of the spine of up to 1.5 cm and corners up to 1 cm. There are a couple of tiny closed tears along the top edge and a larger 3.5 cm closed tear to the top fore edge corner of the rear panel. Overall, a lovely book in very good plus condition. Rainford & Parris Books welcomes enquiries, so please do not hesitate to ask if you require further images or have any questions. All books are packaged with great care.