The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess - 1920: Little, Brown, and Co.

Rare 1920 FIRST EDITION, SIGNED by the author: Thornton W. Burgess. Ex Libris.. Signed on the 1st interior frontmattter page: "To know the animals is to love them. Their friend and yours. Thornton W. Burgess 1921." Beautiful black-and-white and color plates are numerous throughout the volume.
Condition is "Good with Issues". Cover is visibly rubbed, with wear to edges. Ex libris, with library stamp on inner cover, card sleeve removed, and scattered library markings. Binding is loose but holding well. Interior pages and plates are bright and clean.

Rare signed copy of this book. We found one other signed copy worldwide, priced at $500 USD, but in better condition. We dialed the price here way down to fairly account for the (good, but) diminished condition of our copy.
"Thornton Waldo Burgess (January 17, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was an American conservationist and author of children's stories. Burgess loved the beauty of nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years in books and his newspaper column, Bedtime Stories. He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man. By the time he retired, he had written more than 170 books and 15,000 stories for the daily newspaper column." (from Wikipedia)
And about the illustrator: "Louis Agassiz Fuertes (February 7, 1874 Ithaca, New York – August 22, 1927 Unadilla, New York) was an American ornithologist, illustrator and artist who set the rigorous and current-day standards for ornithological art and naturalist depiction and is considered as one of the most prolific American bird artists, second only to his guiding professional predecessor John James Audubon."

We also have a copy of Burgess's "Peter Cottontail."

We will ship USPS Priority Mail with added insurance. For international shipping, please contact us for a quote. If you have any questions about this or any of our books, feel free to contact us and/or request additional photos.

Who are we: This is among the first listings for "Nana's Top Shelf," a collection of first editions and other fine volumes collected over a lifetime from estate sales and booksellers across the East Coast and Europe. The collection specializes in late 19th and early 20th century illustrated children's books, fairy tales and folklore.