“SHOCK-HEADED PETER”: HEINRICH HOFFMANN’S STRUWWELPETER IN ENGLISH
HOFFMANN, Heinrich. The English Struwwelpeter. London: Griffith, Farran, Browne, circa 1890. Slim quarto, original half red cloth, illustrated boards; pp. 24.
Later edition in English of the classic Struwwelpeter, with ten cautionary tales, each illustrated with multiple wood-engravings brightly colored by hand.
First published in English translation in 1848, Struwwelpeter (“Shock-Headed Peter”) is named for one of Hoffmann’s characters, Peter, “with his nasty hair and hands.” “Some of the other characters have become almost proverbial for the generations brought up on the verses, notably Johnny Head-in-Air, Augustus, who would not have any soup (and who dies in five days); foolish Harriet, who plays with matches” (Carpenter & Pritchard, 502). Gumachian 3042. See Cotsen I:469-70.
Hand-colored wood-engravings quite vivid. Reinforced with new endpapers, corners bumped. A near-fine copy.