Stuart Little.

WHITE, E.B.; Illustrated by Garth Williams.

Item Number: 3577

New York: New York: Harper & Brothers, 1945.

First edition, first printing, with code “I-U” on copyright page. Octavo, original cloth. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Max E.B. White.” Additionally signed by the illustrator, Garth Williams. The recipient’s name is on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a few small closed tears and light soiling. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional copy, uncommon signed and inscribed by E.B. White and Garth Williams.

"The story had been brewing with White for years as a disconnected series of bedtime tales for his nieces and nephews by the time it came to Harper. There, shepherded by the distinguished editor Ursula Nordstrom and felicitously illustrated [with 87 drawings] by Garth Williams, the book was eventually published-generally to high acclaim The book sounds a resonant note as Stuart undertakes his quest for the beautiful bird, Margalo. And that quest, as White himself noted, ‘symbolizes the continuing journey that everybody takes—in search of what is perfect and unattainable. This is perhaps too elusive an idea to put into a children’s book, but I put it in anyway" (Silvey, 677).