FIRST EDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
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London : Publicity Products, [1956]. First edition. The first of three Barbara Jones spin-offs from the popular BBC television series, twenty-six episodes of which were made and broadcast - the first on 9th September 1955. The author, the former school-teacher Maria Bird, also scripted Andy Pandy and the Flowerpot Men. In the Colour Story Book series. The doll-like characters would appeared to be based on drawings of Dutch dolls prepared by Jones for her book "The Unsophisticated Arts".
Post 4to. [24]pp - including integral endpapers. Colour illustrations throughout by Barbara Jones. Original colour-printed pictorial laminated boards, in a jolly Barbara Jones design; a touch bowed; some very minor rubbing to tips; mild spotting of edges, but a very good copy of a scarce item. Bloomfield B21.

£125

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London : Hamish Hamilton, (1978). First edition. His wordless classic of 169 illustrations. With the autograph signature of Raymond Briggs laid in to front endpaper.
Small folio (31cm). [32]pp. Colour illustrations throughout. Original laminated boards in Briggs's design; some very minor wear, a few faint marks, but a very good copy of a vulnerable book.

SOLD

London & New York : Frederick Warne & Co., [ca.1905]. An attractive omnibus edition of the charming pictorial Caldecott song-books originally published by George Routledge between 1878 and 1884. Includes The Milkmaid, Hey Diddle Diddle, Baby Bunting, The Fox Jumps over the Parson's Gate, A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go, Come Lasses and Lads, Ride a Cock-Horse, A Farmer Went Trotting, Mrs. Mary Blaize and The Great Panjandrum.
Long crown 4to (20 x 24cm). [iv],(24),(24),(24),(24),(24),(24),(24),(24)pp. Illustrations by Caldecott throughout, many full-page and in colour. Original beige pictorial cloth, blocked and enamelled in sepia, black and cream over bevelled boards; a few slight marks; occasional faint tanning, a few slight spots, but a very good copy in the substantial remains of the original dust-jacket, with pictorial onlay - worn, torn, and lacking half the spine. Contemporary ownership initials K. E. C.

£100

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London & New York : George Routledge & Sons, [1876]. First edition : although traditionally given a date of 1877, the accession date of the British Library copy is 6th December 1876. Thirty-six favourite nursery rhymes - words and music - adorned and illustrated by Walter Crane in a wholly successful demonstration of his theory of the complete integration of image and text. The songs collected and arranged by the artist's sister, Lucy Crane (1842-1882).
Foolscap 4to (19cm). 56pp. Coloured illustrations and decorations throughout, printed by the great master, Edmund Evans (1826-1905). Original cloth-backed pictorial boards - Crane's "Cat and Fiddle" design in tan, cream and black; dark green endpapers; red edges - all as the British Library copy; some minor wear and faint scuffing; a few faint marks, but a very good copy. Contemporary ownership inscription of Eliza Emily Ward.

SOLD

London : John Ebers & Co. / Edinburgh : William Blackwood, 1829. First edition. The second year of publication for this very early Christmas annual for children - with "something found to please, and little to offend even the most scrupulous parent" - with contributions including the first appearance of Maria Edgeworth's novella "Garry Owen; or, The Snow-Woman"; pieces on the squirrel, the dormouse, and the kingfisher from Mary Howitt; tales of childhood heroes from Barbara Hofland; a song and a story from Mary Russell Mitford; a visit to the zoo with "Mrs Markham" [i.e. Elizabeth Penrose]; a poem, "The Name of England", from Felicia Hemans, and much else besides.
Foolscap 8vo. [2],viii,240pp. Numerous illustrations and decorations. Bound in a neat nineteenth-century full polished calf, marbled edges and endpapers, by Riviere, now neatly rebacked and repaired to style; a very good copy.

£250

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London : A. & C. Black, (1938). First edition. Three sisters start a riding school - "the whole idea is pure nonsense" explodes Uncle Manfred.
Foolscap 4to. viii,216pp. Illustrations and plates by Cecil G. Trew. Original pale grey cloth, lettered across spine in blue; mild tanning of endpapers; just a hint of edge spotting, but a very good, crisp and sound copy in the original Trew dust-jacket - a pictorial design in red and black on grey - just slightly creased and with a single repaired tear on upper panel - but also very good and fresh.

£40

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London : George Routledge & Sons, [1881]. First edition. A child's day in a sequence of songs, delightfully illustrated throughout by Greenaway in one of her most successful productions - the music provided by Myles Birket Foster (1851-1922), son of the artist.
Post 4to (26cm). (30),[ii]pp. Coloured illustrations throughout, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans (1826-1905). Original cloth-backed bevelled boards in a striking sunflower design; all edges green; some rubbing and wear to edges and extremities; a little shaken; some mild browning and a few faint spots, but a good copy of a much-loved classic of the nursery. Schuster & Engen 66.

£150

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Leicester : Brockhampton Press, (1955). First edition. Eight Biggles stories, set variously in Saigon, New Guinea, remote Scotland, etc., the plots involving smuggling, stolen gold, a stolen painting, a torn parachute, a murdered policeman, the sale of scientific secrets, etc., and including "The Adventure of the Luminous Clay", "Operation Starlight", etc.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 188,[ii]pp. Six colour plates by Leslie Stead. Original green boards, blocked and lettered in red and blind; a touch sunned at head; some spotting of edges and endpapers; small corner missing from one plate, but overall a good copy in a lightly worn, slightly nicked and faintly creased dust-jacket - also by Stead.

£40

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London : Macmillan & Co., 1894-1895. First editions of the two separately published Jungle Books. Illustrated by John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911) - the author's father - and others. The second volume inadvertently omits the final 514 words of the story "The King's Ankus" an omission quickly rectified in a second printing.
Two volumes. Crown 8vo (20cm). [2],(viii),212; [viii],238,[ii]pp. Original pictorial cloth gilt - designs of elephants and serpents boldly blocked on the respective upper covers; all edges gilt; very mild rubbing to extremities; a little spotting in places, but overall a very good, bright and most attractive set. With the unusual pictorial bookplates of the journalist, Charles Alfred Cuthbert Keeson (1857-1925), and his son, the soldier, war-hero and military historian, Cuthbert Alfred Garnet Cuthbert Keeson (1898-1968), in each volume - the former produced from a painting by Alfred Daniel Keeson. Loosely inserted are a number of interesting press-cuttings relating to wolf-children. Stewart 123, 132.

SOLD

London : Macmillan & Co., 1902. First edition. The original twelve stories, illustrated by Kipling, the only one of his books graced with his own fine illustrations.
Crown 4to (25cm). [viii],(252)pp. Illustrations, many full-page. Original red cloth, blocked in black and white, and ruled in white, in an overall pictorial design by Kipling; lettered in white across upper cover and spine; a touch dulled; just a hint of rubbing; slightly shaken; a few slight marks; final text leaf slightly creased; corners torn from colophon leaf and rear free endpaper, but a good copy, without the usual chipping and flaking of the white enamel. Stewart 260.

SOLD

London : Geoffrey Bles, (1950). First edition. Illustrations and colour frontispiece by Pauline Baynes. The first and best-known of the Narnia chronicles.
Post 8vo. (174),[ii]pp. Coloured frontispiece. Illustrations. Bound in an elegant recent full navy morocco, banded and gilt; marbled endpapers; a few very minor marks and spots, but a very good copy.

SOLD

A complete first edition set of all seven novels, all in original cloth or boards, six having been together since first purchased in the 1950s, and five retaining their original dust-jackets (the two others - the first and fourth in the set - having had jackets supplied by a former owner from contemporary copies of later impressions). Post 8vo. All with illustrations (some coloured) and dust-jackets by Pauline Baynes, comprising :

THE LAST BATTLE : A STORY FOR CHILDREN.
London : John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1956. First edition. Some spotting of edges of endpapers, but otherwise a very good copy in the original jacket – price-clipped, lightly worn at head, faintly sunned, and with some spotting of lower panel. Dated (1956) gift inscription to Carol on front endpaper.

£5,000

London : J.M.Dent & Sons, (1959). First edition. Illustrated by Peggy Fortnum.
Crown 8vo. 188pp. Illustrations. Original red boards, lettered on spine in gilt; a touch bruised, a few faint marks, but a very good and sound copy in the original Peggy Fortnum dust-jacket - a design in red-pink, pale blue and black on white - very lightly used, a little tanned at spine, and very slightly fingered, but overall a most acceptable copy of a difficult title.

£100

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London : Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans / Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1841-1842. First edition. Marryat's first and best-known book for children - island castaways in the Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson tradition.
Three volumes. Foolscap 8vo. viii,(288) + (16)pp advertisements dated December 1841; [iv],(270),[ii], + 16,16pp advertisements dated April 1842; [iv],(226),[ii] + 32pp advertisements dated until October 1842. Illustrations and map by the author. Bound in a nineteenth-century half blue calf, banded and prettily gilt; contrasting red and maroon labels; marbled sides and endpapers; lemon edges; a little faded, lightly rubbed and slightly scuffed; a few slight marks and small flaws, but a very good and still attractive set. Sadleir 1583 - but with variation in inserted publishers' catalogues.

£250

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London : William Heinemann, (1927). First edition. Kay Harker seeks the stolen fortune of his sea-faring great-grandfather - a celebrated fantasy novel for children.
Crown 8vo. (328)pp. Original blue cloth, ruled in blind and lettered in gilt on upper cover; lettered across spine in gilt; top edge blue; edges a little spotted, but otherwise a very good, bright and sound copy in the original dust-jacket -a striking pictorial design in green, grey and blue - just a little rubbed, very slightly nicked, and just faintly spotted on lower panel. Bleiler p.135.

£125

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London : Methuen & Co., (1928). First edition. "One day when Pooh Bear had nothing else to do, he thought he would do something ...".
Crown 8vo (19cm). (xii),(180)pp. Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard. In the original publishers' de-luxe binding of full olive leather, prettily gilt with some of Shepard's illustrations set within rules and floral sprays; green marker ribbon; some very mild rubbing to extremities, but overall in very good, clean and sound condition.

£750

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London : Methuen & Co., (1928). First edition. "One day when Pooh Bear had nothing else to do, he thought he would do something ...".
Crown 8vo (191 x 123mm). (xii),(180)pp. Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard. Bound in an elegant recent half pink morocco, retaining the original pictorial cloth gilt sides in Shepard's design; top edge gilt; original cloth backstrip preserved at rear; original pictorial front endpaper preserved; a few very minor marks, but a handsome copy.

£750

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London : Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., (1906). First edition. Her most popular and enduring novel - delightfully illustrated by Charles Edmund Brock (1870-1938).
Foolscap 4to (203 x 140mm). viii,(310),(10)pp. Frontispiece and nineteen plates by Brock. Bound in an elegant recent half plum morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; original pictorial cloth gilt upper cover and backstrip preserved at rear; a few minor marks, faint creases and spots, but a very good and attractively bound copy of an increasingly difficult title. Contemporary ownership inscription.

£750

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London : Frederick Warne & Co., 1906. First edition.
Pott 4to. (86)pp. Pictorial label, frontispiece and twenty-six illustrations in colour; title vignette in black and white, all by Beatrix Potter. Rebound in a smart recent half red morocco, banded and gilt, retaining the original boards (the red variant), lettered in white, with oval pictorial onlay on upper cover; pictorial front endpaper retained; a few tiny marks, but overall in very good and clean state. Linder p.426. Quinby 10.

£500

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London : Constable & Co., [1919]. First edition : the large-paper limited edition of 575 numbered copies, signed by Arthur Rackham. "Clerk Colvill", "Chevy Chase", "Hynd Horn", "The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington", "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" and many other of the traditional ballads, with sixteen tipped-in tissue-guarded colour plates by Rackham and numerous black-and-white illustrations in the text.
Demy 4to (254 x 185mm). [ii],(10),170,[ii]pp. Colour plates. Text illustrations. Bound in a splendid recent full green morocco, banded and richly gilt; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; occasional very slight spotting; a few faint creases, but overall a very good, clean, sound and handsome copy.

£750

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London : Constable & Co., [1919]. First edition : the later issue, with the addition of the pictorial Rackham endpapers in place of the original plain ones. "Clerk Colvill", "Chevy Chase", "Hynd Horn", "The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington", "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" and many other of the traditional ballads, with sixteen tipped-in tissue-guarded colour plates by Rackham and numerous black-and-white illustrations in the text.
Crown 4to. (10),170,[ii]pp. Colour plates. Text illustrations. Bound in a smart recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt, and retaining the original cloth sides decorated with Rackham designs in gilt and blind; original Rackham front endpaper preserved; occasional light spotting; a few minor creases, but a very good copy - handsomely bound.

£350

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London : Macmillan & Co., 1920. First edition. A collection of ten tales, illustrated in inimitable style by Arthur Rackham.
Foolscap 4to (210 x 160mm). [2],x,318,[ii]pp. Sixteen colour plates. Twenty-one illustrations in text. Bound in a smart recent full green morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; tissue guards to plates lightly tanned; small mark to final advertisement leaf, but a very good copy.

£500

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London : Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; Hamilton, Adams & Co., [etc]., 1850. Eighth edition. "Designed to inspire young persons with a taste for that useful branch of education" - Little Lucy Harcourt is brought up to the mark in grammar - "though she sometimes betrayed a little impatience, ill-humour, and carelessness, yet if we look over these little faults, she was tolerably good". Intended for use both at home and in schools, but although the work evidently enjoyed a considerable nineteenth-century vogue, being first published in about 1827 (the date of the preface) and reaching a tenth edition in 1865, we are unable to trace any edition earlier than the 1841 (sixth) in the British Library - and no copy of the present edition in any of the major UK libraries.
Post 12mo (19cm). 204pp. Original blind-stamped cloth, lettered in gilt; a touch sunned; small and faint band of uneven colour across spine, but a very good copy. Impenetrable contemporary ownership inscription.

£50

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