43 B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s “For A Change, I Am Going To Make A Story About Two Disagreeable People…” 51. POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Mr. Tod. London and New York, 1912. 16mo, original gray boards, mounted cover illustration. $1600. First edition of one of the more uncommon Potter titles, with frontispiece and 14 illustrations in color and 42 in-text line drawings. This tale inaugurated Potter’s “new series” of Peter Rabbit books, sporting a format “adopted because Potter had no longer the inclination to produce the number of colored pictures used in her other books; and [because] she had told Warnes that she was finding it ‘so difficult to continue to make ‘fresh’ short stories” (Linder, 211). Nevertheless, this darker and more sophisticated story—in which Potter, for the first time, crafts a tale featuring villains as protagonists—reveals the beloved author-illustrator “at the height of her powers” (Carpenter &Prichard, 424). Without scarce original dust jacket. Quinby 21. Only a few minor finger smudges to interior, faint spot of soiling to rear board, slight rubbing and toning mainly to extremities. A near-fine copy. Scarce. “The Nest Is So Snug, We Shall Be Sound Asleep All Winter” 50. POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes. London and New York, 1911. 16mo, original brown boards, mounted cover illustration, custom cloth clamshell box. $2000. First edition of Potter’s gift to her devoted American readers, with color frontispiece and 26 color plates. A decade after her most famous creation, Peter Rabbit, debuted on the stage of children’s literature, Potter had gained “many American friends and admirers, some of whom were children’s librarians. It is believed that The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes was written primarily for American children because they would be familiar with both chipmunks and bears. They would also be familiar with grey squirrels like Timmy Tiptoes and his wife Goody, who stored nuts for the winter months and met with various adventures while so doing” (Linder, 208). “The year 1911 appears on the front of the title page of the first two printings, which are believed to be identical” (Linder, 429). Without extremely scarce original glassine. Quinby 20. Only a few spots of soiling to interior, boards lovely and fine. A nearly fine copy. “Look At His Savage Whiskers, And His Claws And His Turned-Up Tail” 49. POTTER, Beatrix. The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit. London and New York, 1906. 16mo, original green cloth wallet, mounted cover illustration, custom cloth clamshell box. $2200. First edition, first issue, one of only two Potter stories first published in this special wallet format, with 14 full-page illustrations and 14 pages of text in one long accordion with green linen backing. In 1906, Potter was planning “some stories for very young children… The pictures and text were arranged in pairs and were in panoramic form, mounted on a long strip of linen, and folded concertina-wise into a wallet with a tuck-in flap… The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit was written specially for Harold Warne’s little girl, Louise, who had told Aunt Beatrix that Peter was much too good a rabbit, and she wanted a story about a really naughty one!” (Linder, 183). This accordion style of book did not prove popular with booksellers; customers tended to leave them unrolled and the books were inconvenient to re-fold. Consequently, these titles went out of print after the first two printings. First issue, with “London & New York” on rear cover (as opposed to “New York & London” in second issue). Quinby 12. Faint soiling to interior, creasing to a several panels of accordion, a bit of light expert restoration to some of the accordion folds and cover flap, light rubbing and only slight soiling to wallet. A very good copy.
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