Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
by RACKHAM Arthur BARRIE J. M
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
1906. First Edition . Signed. (RACKHAM, Arthur) BARRIE, J.M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906. Quarto, early half vellum gilt over light grey boards, brown morocco spine label, top edge gilt, uncut. Housed in a custom chemise and clamshell box. $26,000.Signed limited first separate edition, number 128 of only 500 copies signed by Rackham, with 50 mounted color illustrations. A superb association copy, inscribed on the illustrated original endpaper by J.M. Barrie to Pauline Chase, who played Peter Pan in the original London production of the play, ""To Pauline Pan, a great Peter, from a grateful JMB.""Peter Pan wasn't always the boy from Never Land who lost his shadow and fought Captain Hook. The character's first name ""came from Peter Llewelyn Davies, who when still a baby became the subject of stories told by Barrie to [Peter's older brothers]. According to these stories Peter, like all babies, had once been a bird and could still fly out of his nursery window and back to Kensington Gardens, because his mother had forgotten to weigh him at birth. From these stories came the 'Peter Pan' chapters in The Little White Bird [published 1902], afterwards re-issued with Arthur Rackham illustrations as Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens"" (Carpenter, 177). ""The 50 color plates were unanimously praised by all who saw them. One critic wrote: 'Mr. Rackham seems to have dropped out of some cloud in Mr. Barrie's fairyland, sent by special providence to make pictures in tune with his whimsical genius"" (Dalby, 76-77). The book-with which the ""gift book"" genre originated (Eyre, 41)-established Rackham's worldwide reputation and remains ""his acknowledged masterpiece
[Barrie praised] Rackham's rendering of the fairy world
but the book has much more to offer. The glimpses he provides of stylized London reality effectively set off the fairy life that exists in unsuspected conjunction with it, and he captures the loveliness of the Gardens themselves with masterly skill"" (Ray, 204, 206 [catalogue number 329]). ""A much-sought-after volume"" (Quayle, Early Children's Books, 87). Mounted plates bound together at the end of the text rather than throughout as suggested by plate list, as often. Latimore & Haskell, 27. Riall, 74. This copy is inscribed by Barrie to actress Pauline Chase. When the play premiered in London in 1904, Chase played one of the Lost Boys; she graduated to the role of Peter Pan in 1906, having been chosen for the part by Barrie himself, along with producer Charles Frohman. After Peter Pan, Chase retired from the stage in 1913, making only one appearance after that, in the silent film The Real Thing at Last, which was also written by Barrie.Plates fine, text with just a bit of occasional faint foxing; binding lovely.
Synopsis
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is a novel by James M. Barrie, published in 1906; it is one of four major literary works by Barrie featuring the widely known literary character he originated, Peter Pan.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bauman Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 116711
- Title
- Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
- Author
- RACKHAM Arthur BARRIE J. M
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Date Published
- 1906
Terms of Sale
Bauman Rare Books
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About the Seller
Bauman Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
About Bauman Rare Books
In business since 1973, Bauman Rare Books now has locations in New York, Philadelphia and Las Vegas.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Top Edge Gilt
- Top edge gilt refers to the practice of applying gold or a gold-like finish to the top of the text block (the edges the pages...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Spine Label
- The paper or leather descriptive tag attached to the spine of the book, most commonly providing the title and author of the...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Vellum
- Vellum is a sheet of specialty prepared skin of lamb, calf, or goat kid used for binding a book or for printing and writing. ...
- Clamshell Box
- A protective box designed for storing and preserving a bound book or loose sheets. A clamshell box is hinged on one side, with...
- Association Copy
- An association copy is a copy of a book which has been signed and inscribed by the author for a personal friend, colleague, or...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...