Beatrix Potter | The Tale of Peter Rabbit, inscribed presentation copy, first privately printed edition, London, 1901

Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Peter Rabbit. [London, 1901]

PRIVATELY PRINTED FIRST EDITION, ONE OF ONLY 250 COPIES OF THE FIRST ISSUE, 16mo (136 x 101mm.), PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR in ink on front free endpaper "for Mrs Oliver, from Beatrix Potter- with kind regards and best wishes for Christmas 1901", later ownership inscription to front free endpaper, coloured plate to verso of title page, plain plates, original pictorial grey boards

AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY OF THE FIRST EVER BEATRIX POTTER BOOK.

Beatrix Potter was inspired to write about a mischievous little bunny rabbit when composing letters to the children of her former governess, Annie Moore. Having grown up surrounded by animals and nature, Potter used the name of her childhood pet rabbit, Peter Piper, for the protagonist of her story. She drew black-and-white illustrations to accompany the text and sent the manuscript to several publishers, where it was resoundingly rejected. Following this, Potter decided to self-publish the book, and on 16 December 1901, 250 copies were printed at her own expense. This copy is from this scarce original print run.

The poet Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley saw the potential in her story and re-sent it to the publisher Frederick Warne & Co. It was only then that they decided, following extensive negotiations, to publish the Tale of Peter Rabbit with colour illustrations in Autumn 1902. The book was an instant success: Linda Lear writes that "Even before the publication of the tale in early October 1902, the first 8,000 copies were sold out. By the year's end there were 28,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in print. By the middle of 1903 there was a fifth edition sporting coloured endpapers ... a sixth printing was produced within the month", and a year after the first commercial publication there were 56,470 copies in print. It has now been translated into 45 languages and has sold 45 million copies, making it one of the most successful children's books of all time.

LITERATURE

Linder, pp. 92-110, 420

PROVENANCE

Presented by the author to Mrs Oliver (presentation inscription on preliminary free endpaper by the author in the month of publication, December 1901); Dominic Winter, 21 June 2018, lot 690