“MY OWN FAVORITE AMONGST MY LITTLE BOOKS”: FIRST TRADE EDITION OF THE TAILOR OF GLOUCESTER

POTTER, Beatrix. The Tailor of Gloucester. London and New York: Frederick Warne and Company, 1903. 12mo, original dark green paper boards, mounted cover illustration, pictorial endpapers. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. $2600.

First trade edition, first printing, of Beatrix Potter’s second book, described by her as “my own favorite amongst my little books,” with pictorial label, frontispiece and 26 illustrations in color.

Inspired by a real-life incident involving a tailor's pressure to finish a waistcoat for the new mayor of Gloucester, this book "was Potter's own favorite of all her stories, and one can see why, for in it she indulges her own fascination with the era of her grandparents and great-grandparents… Fairy tale, nursery rhyme and Arcadian fantasy all come together for a moment in perfect balance. No wonder Beatrix Potter was proud of the book" (Carpenter, 148). First printing, with single-page endpaper occurring four times. Preceded by a privately printed edition of 500 copies. Without rare original glassine dust jacket. Quinby 4. Linder, 423.

A few spots of soiling to interior, text block separated but holding strong, stray mark to front board, and boards bowing slightly. A near-fine copy.