Stuart Little

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1945 Illustrated by Garth Williams. First edition, first printing. Publisher's tan cloth, with Garth's illustration of Stuart Little tugging on a rope to the front board in white and green, lettered in white and green, pictorial teal endpapers with illustrations by Garth in white; in its original dust jacket, with Garth's illustration of Stuart Little canoeing down a stream to the front panel, lettered in black. Near fine book, with light toning to head of spine, a touch of rubbing to spine ends, some very light spotting to edges of front board, and corners lightly bumped; near fine unclipped dust jacket, with light toning to spine and panel edges, some wear to foot of spine, a very shallow chip and small closed tear to top edge of front panel, partially faded stamp to front flap ("E.B."?), and lightly nicked corners. Overall, a clean and attractive copy. Stuart Little is E. B. White's first children's book. It tells the story of a mouse named Stuart who is born into the Little family of New York City, which is otherwise composed entirely of humans. White, then better known as a founding member of The New Yorker, began writing Stuart Little "in the hope of amusing a six-year-old niece of his," but, as the dust jacket notes, "before he finished it she had grown up and was reading Hemingway." White's background as a columnist exposes itself in the novel's episodic format, which tells a series of Stuart's adventures rather than an overarching plot. As Malcolm Cowley proclaimed in his 1945 New York Times review, "To say that 'Stuart Little' is one of the best children's books published this year is very modest praise for a writer of his talent." . First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included. Illus. by Garth Williams.