NEW YORK ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR 2026
a book for publication in 1901. She sent her manuscript to at least six publishers only to have it refused by each of them, so made the decision to publish the book herself whilst continuing the search for a publisher who would issue the book in accordance with her wishes. In the end Frederick Warne & Co. agreed to publish the book but Potter was forced to compromise by having all the il- lustrations in colour. In order to achieve this, eleven of the illustrations were removed and the text was edited. Some of the text which was removed for the published edition was later used in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904).
The book was an instant success and has never been out of print since publication. It is now regarded as one of the cornerstones of children’s literature. Its popularity and fragility mean that very few copies of the first edition have survived in collectable condition. 49. RACKHAM, Arthur; BARRIE, J.M. PETER PAN IN KENS- INGTON GARDENS Hodder & Stoughton, 1906 [46378] First edition, De luxe issue, number 27 of 500 copies signed by Arthur Rackham. Large 4to. Full white vellum with gilt lettering and decoration. Top edge gilt and others untrimmed. Endpaper with map of Kensington Gardens and fifty colour plates mounted onto brown art paper and protected by captioned tissue guards. The plates for this version of Barrie’s tale are magnificent. A near fine copy, lacking ties, bright and clean. Housed in custom made clamshell box. $7,000 In 1902 J.M. Barrie wrote the novel “the Little White Bird”, the central chapters of which tell of a child named Peter Pan, “... who escaped from being a human when he was seven days old... and flew back to Kensing -
47. POTTER, Beatrix “Squintina Tabby Licenced dealer in Tea” An Original Illustration [c.1895] [46502] 145x190mm. Original grisaille pen and wash, heightened with white watercolour on paper. Signed HBP to the lower right cor- ner. Fine condition, with just a few light marks to the unpainted margin. $55,000 A fine, unusually large and detailed watercolour, depicting Squintina Tabby, knitting at the entrance to her tea room, looking severely at a cou- ple of frolicsome young kittens peering in at the window. The drawing is based upon a photographic postcard of a teashop in Whit- by and the titular cat possibly modelled on one owned by Potter’s uncle and aunt who they called Squintina. Potter’s proficient use of greyscale and highlight brings a sense of reality and palpable humour to the piece. A simplified engraving of this piece was reproduced in the 1896 Nister annual, Comical Customers. 48. POTTER, Beatrix THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT Warne, 1902 [45521] First published edition, first issue with “wept big tears” on p.51. 12mo. Original dark brown paper covered boards lettered in white with pictorial onlay to upper cover of Peter in his blue jacket. Leaf-patterned endpapers. Illustrated throughout in col- our by the author. A near fine copy, with an early ownership name to the front endpaper and very slight surface wear to the spine ends and joints. Internally fresh and tight. An unusually well preserved copy. $12,500 Originally conceived in 1893 in the form of a letter with pictures to cheer up an ill child, Beatrix Potter developed the story of Peter Rabbit into
ton Gardens.” This part of the story was then developed by Barrie and the first book to appear with the title of Peter Pan was this 1906 version to which Arthur Rackham provided 50 magnificent colour illustrations. A contemporary review of this book published in “ The World ” reads “Mr Barrie has done what no one else has done since the inventor of “Al- ice”, he has invented a new legend, a modern folk story which compre- hends all the innermost secrets of the modern child, be he four or forty. Mr Rackham, for his part, has been bewitched in his cradle: he does not dream of fairies or hobgoblins, he knows them.”
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