The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

POTTER, Beatrix.

$9,500.00

Item Number: 135913

London: Frederick Warne and Co, 1905.

The earliest known first edition, presentation copy of Potter’s popular children’s story. Octavo, original boards with embossed titles and pictorial cover label, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 26 color plates by the author. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the front pictorial endpaper in the year of publication, “For Theresa Thorp with love from Beatrix Potter Oct 15th 05.” The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle was published only one month prior to Potter’s inscription in September 1905, this is the earliest traceable presentation copy inscribed by Potter. In very good condition. Front hinge reinforced, loss to the crown and foot of the spine. Bookplate.

Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated thirty books throughout the course of her lifetime, the best-known being her charming twenty-three children's tales featuring animals, including The Tale of Peter Rabbit which she self-published in her thirties after multiple publisher's rejections. The book was was so well-received upon publication in 1902, that within just a few weeks she requested a second impression. Now firmly established as a popular writer and illustrator, Potter began writing full time and went on to produce such endearing stories as The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, The Tale of Tom Kitten, and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, among others. With the proceeds from the books and a legacy from an aunt, Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey in 1905 and over the following decades, purchased additional farms to preserve the unique hill country landscape of the Lake District of Lancashire.