Biggles Flies South. Illustrated by Howard Leigh and Jack Nicolle

New York. E.P Dutton and Co. 1928. Bound in half green cloth and decorated yellow pictorial paper over boards. Square 8vo. This edition on large paper is limited to 250 numbered and signed copies of which this is number 19. Signed in ink by Milne and Shepard on the limitation page. Illustrated with drawings and decorations by E.H Shepard. Several small light specks of foxing to front and rear paper covered boards. Usual light discoloration to front and rear pastedown from binding process. Small previous owners bookplate to front free endsheet. Some light needle thin patches of foxing encroaching onto the yellow papered board from just beneath the edge of the front pastedown. Book is wrapped in original glassine, which shows 4 or 5 pin sized specks of foxing and housed in publishers original pictorial slipcase which is somewhat darkened along edges with scattered foxing inside. A Lovely copy of this most rare signed edition.

first edition first printing hardcover (The World Publishing Company, 1969); no dust jacket; prior owner title page corner; text has no prior owner marks but some pages have age tone, light soil; binding shaken but no loose pages; glazed illustrated boards worn at corners and spine ends (little fraying); panels have shelf rub (scratches);dust jacket missing SoWll

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1914. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Good-Box. Jessie Willcox Smith. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 1st edition. A Near Fine copy, in Good box. Oblong 4to., 173 pp., illustrated with a color frontispiece and 16 color and b&w plates; text further illustrated with drawings. Bound in black cloth with title on the spine in white; color illustration pasted onto the front board. Housed in the publisher's card stock box, with illustrated edges and printed publisher information. An excellent copy, with just a hint of wear to the spine lettering. The box has been reinforced on all edges with tape (see photo). A beautiful copy, Near Fine in the Good publisher's box. *** The classic work illustrated by perhaps the finest illustrator from the Golden Age of Illustration. Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated numerous books of the era, and did every cover work for Good Housekeeping from 1917 to 1933. She was only the second women to be inducted into The Hall of Fame of the Society of… Read More

Methuen & Co. Ltd., London. 1924. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (7.7 x 5.2 inches). With decorations by E. H. Shepard. Page ix in the second state with the numeral numbering to the bottom of the page. This is a near fine copy of Milne's first children's book with some light offsetting to the blank endpapers, otherwise clean and bright throughout. Top edge gilt. In a very good original correct 1st impression illustrated dustwrapper. Very minor chipping to top and tail of spine and a line of light browning to the bottom front panel edge and very top of the spine, otherwise a clean and fresh example of this dustwrapper. Uncommon on such good condition. A highly desirable copy of Milne's children's classic.

LONDON: WARNE, 1902. 1st Edition 5th Printing. Hardcover. Fine. AUTHOR. The First 2 years of the LONDON Publication of "The TALE of PETER RABBIT" have reference books about the various Printings/evolution of changes. I'm fascinated by it myself. Now, excluding the impossible First Private Printings in Late 1901 & Early 1902 from the realm of possibility for we mere mortals, the First few Original Warne Trade Printings are one of my joys to study - and even more to Find! Most collector's know that the First few Warne Printings (late 1902 - mid 1903) were done with patterned leaf end papers and had 97 pages with all illustrations in Color (Private Printings were B&W). The distinction between the printings was the Board Color. The last of these 4 printings changed "wept" to "shed". NOTE: NONE of These Printings had a COPYRIGHT DATE (on the rear of the Title Page)! Now, here is where it gets interesting!! All References deal with the Change in Format in Late 1903 from 97 pages… Read More

first edition first printing hardcover (The World Publishing Company, 1969); no dust jacket; prior owner title page corner; text has no prior owner marks but some pages have age tone, light soil; binding shaken but no loose pages; glazed illustrated boards worn at corners and spine ends (little fraying); panels have shelf rub (scratches);dust jacket missing SoWll

Philadelphia: C. W. Beck, Jr., The Beck Engraving Co., From the Art Press of S. H. Burbank & Co, 1902. First and Only Edition. First and Only Edition. Elephant folio, 14 x 20 inches. The enormously scarce and arguably the finest children's calendar ever printed with comparable color images in the U.S. in the 20th Century. Printed on fine coated paper by the the eminent Charles W. Beck, the finest color printer of his day in the US, who only five years later was the first to make four-color plates which became the industry standard. These renowned illustrations, three by Jessie Willcox Smith and four by Elizabeth Shippen Green (including the cover), along with twelve smaller color drawings as panels, by each artist, are among the most decorative and interpretive ever rendered by an American illustrator. The full-page illustrations form the images for "The Book of the Child," which was published by Stokes in 1903. Both were issued very nearly the same time, and records do not clearly indicate which… Read More

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1914. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Good-Box. Jessie Willcox Smith. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 1st edition. A Near Fine copy, in Good box. Oblong 4to., 173 pp., illustrated with a color frontispiece and 16 color and b&w plates; text further illustrated with drawings. Bound in black cloth with title on the spine in white; color illustration pasted onto the front board. Housed in the publisher's card stock box, with illustrated edges and printed publisher information. An excellent copy, with just a hint of wear to the spine lettering. The box has been reinforced on all edges with tape (see photo). A beautiful copy, Near Fine in the Good publisher's box. *** The classic work illustrated by perhaps the finest illustrator from the Golden Age of Illustration. Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated numerous books of the era, and did every cover work for Good Housekeeping from 1917 to 1933. She was only the second women to be inducted into The Hall of Fame of the Society of… Read More

Methuen & Co. Ltd., London. 1924. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (7.7 x 5.2 inches). With decorations by E. H. Shepard. Page ix in the second state with the numeral numbering to the bottom of the page. This is a near fine copy of Milne's first children's book with some light offsetting to the blank endpapers, otherwise clean and bright throughout. Top edge gilt. In a very good original correct 1st impression illustrated dustwrapper. Very minor chipping to top and tail of spine and a line of light browning to the bottom front panel edge and very top of the spine, otherwise a clean and fresh example of this dustwrapper. Uncommon on such good condition. A highly desirable copy of Milne's children's classic.

LONDON: WARNE, 1902. 1st Edition 5th Printing. Hardcover. Fine. AUTHOR. The First 2 years of the LONDON Publication of "The TALE of PETER RABBIT" have reference books about the various Printings/evolution of changes. I'm fascinated by it myself. Now, excluding the impossible First Private Printings in Late 1901 & Early 1902 from the realm of possibility for we mere mortals, the First few Original Warne Trade Printings are one of my joys to study - and even more to Find! Most collector's know that the First few Warne Printings (late 1902 - mid 1903) were done with patterned leaf end papers and had 97 pages with all illustrations in Color (Private Printings were B&W). The distinction between the printings was the Board Color. The last of these 4 printings changed "wept" to "shed". NOTE: NONE of These Printings had a COPYRIGHT DATE (on the rear of the Title Page)! Now, here is where it gets interesting!! All References deal with the Change in Format in Late 1903 from 97 pages… Read More