"THIS IS A TALE ABOUT A TAIL…": FIRST EDITION OF THE TALE OF SQUIRREL NUTKIN

POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. London and New York: Frederick Warne, 1903. 16mo, original dark blue paper boards, mounted cover illustration, pictorial endpapers. $3000.

First edition, first or second issue, of Potter's third children's book.

This "story for Norah" about an impertinent, owl-taunting red squirrel evolved from a picture letter Potter sent to Norah Moore, a friend's daughter, in 1901. To the author's pleased surprise, the book proved an instant success. She wrote her publisher: "I am delighted to hear such a good account of Nutkin… I have had such comical letters from children about 'Scell nuskin'—it seems an impossible word to spell; but they say they have 'red' it right through and that it is 'lovely'—which is satisfactory. I shall always have a preference for cheap books myself—even if they do not pay; all my little friends happen to be shilling people" (Linder, 141-42). The tale remains one of Potter's best known. First published August 1903, with a second printing the following month; the words "Author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit" are believed to have been added to the title page after the second issue, and it is therefore impossible to distinguish between first and second issues. Without extremely scarce original dust jacket. Quinby 5. Linder, 423. Front pastedown with early 19th-century copper-engraved bookplate, half title with neatly inked gift inscription dated Christmas 1903.

Interior with a few small stains to margins, text block expertly reinforced. Back cover cloth lightly spotted. A lovely copy.