The Tailor of Gloucester

London: Frederick Warne and Co, 1903. First published edition. Near Fine/Very Good +. First issue (printed October 1903), with a single-page endpaper occurring four times. A nearly Fine copy in Very Good + dust jacket. Twelvemo (5 7/16 x 4 1/16 inches; 139 x 105 mm.). 85, [1, printer's imprint] pp. Color frontispiece and twenty-six color plates (included in pagination). Seventeen illustrations are entirely new for this edition; eleven of the illustrations are repeated from the December 1902 privately printed edition. Original maroon boards ruled and lettered in white on front cover and lettered in white on spine. Color pictorial label on front cover within a blind panel in the shape of a truncated pyramid outlined in blind. Color pictorial endpapers (Quinby Plate I, a single-page endpaper occurring four times). Minimal fading to spine. Small circular bookseller's label on rear pastedown. In the rare correct glazed paper glassine dust jacket printed in black with the price "1/- NET" at foot of spine, an advertisement for "The Peter Rabbit Books" on the back panel listing The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, and The Tailor of Gloucester, and with vertical lines at the top and bottom of the spine indicating where the fold should come for the front panel. The jacket has a few very small chips along the top edge (the largest being a 3/8 inch piece missing at the top of the spine), but is certainly the finest jacket for this title that we have ever seen. Housed in a quarter brown morocco clamshell case with felt lining.

Noted as the authors favorite book, The Tailor of Gloucester is a delightful story in which a group of mice-grateful for being saved from a cat-assist a tailor in finishing a coat. Potter was inspired by a local legend that saw fairies assisting John Prichard (1877-1934) in finishing a suit for the mayor all in one night (reality his employed assistants completed the job). She first gave this story as a Christmas gift, before it was officially published in 1903. "The year 1903 appears on the front of the title-page of the first two printings. The first printing [October 1903] has a single-page end-paper occurring four times, and the second printing [December 1903], a double-page end-paper occurring twice. In the art fabric de-luxe edition, some copies have the usual frontispiece, others have the cover picture in its place. Both pictures were printed on one sheet, which was cut in half, and each half used as a tipped-in frontispiece. With this binding there was no cover picture" (Linder).

"Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake district. As was the custom in families of her class, she was educated at home by governesses. An eager student of languages and literature, she grew up loving classic folk and fairy tales...Her talent for drawing and painting was discovered early and encouraged" (Beatrix Potter Society). Her career began with the release of the now-beloved Tale of Peter Rabbit; and her subsequent works expanded into a magical world of anthropomorphic animals such as Tom Kitten, Squirrel Nutkin, and Benjamin Bunny.

Linder, p. 423. Quinby 4. V & A 1576. Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.