The Fairy Caravan de POTTER, Beatrix - 1929

Philadelphia, David Mackay and Co. 1929., 1929. FIRST U.S. EDITION (Precedes the Limited UK Edition, see below). 8vo. Publisher's illustrated paper and green cloth boards. A later work by the author who gave rabbits a private life long before Richard Adams was born. Profusely illustrated by the author with colour plates, black and white in text illustrations and a colour frontispiece. There is a little bumping and rubbing to the extremities of the cloth, the inner gutters are starting, one page, p.108, is creased, and the rear board has suffered some staining and soiling but it is otherwise a tight and handsome copy. By far the most interesting thing about this copy is the inscription in Beatrix Potter's hand across the bottom of the title page:"Copyright of the author in Great Britain and Ireland, entered at Stationer's Hall." In 1929 Miss Potter realised that the publication of the US edition of "Fairy Caravan" would leave her without a British copyright on the work: "It is evident that the English copyright must be secured by me." she wrote at the time. With this in mind she spoke to David Mackay in Philadelphia and asked him to send her one hundred sets of sheets for private binding and publication in Britain. This he did, and Miss Potter took the sheets to George Middleton in Ambleside to be bound. Obviously the US copyright on the title page was no use to either Miss Potter or Mr. Middleton, the likelihood is that Miss Potter wrote the copyright legend herself on a US edition by way of illustration to Mr. Middleton. Book Collector No.271, 'The Great Illustrators'.