The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real. by WILLIAMS, Margery; William Nicholson (illus.) - 1922: With Illustrations by William Nicholson.

London: Heinemann,, 1922. In the rare dust jacket Quarto. Original pictorial boards, title to spine in orange and front board in black, pictorial endpapers. With the dust jacket. Housed in a terracotta quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. With 7 chromolithographs, of which 3 are double-page. A little rubbing to head of front board and extremities, a near-fine, bright copy in the jacket with a little chipping to spine ends and tips, closed tear to fold of rear flap, in well-preserved condition. First edition, first impression, with the rare dust jacket. The first impression of this beautiful and much-loved collaboration between Margery Williams and William Nicholson is notable for the chromolithographic printing of Nicholson's illustrations. They were replaced by a cheaper process in subsequent printings. "It is loved by parents and teachers as a gentle introduction to the subjects of change and loss, and to the different ways there are of being 'real'. Adapted numerous times for children's theater and animation, The Velveteen Rabbit remains Williams's most enduring work" (Grolier). Grolier Club, One Hundred Books in Children's Literature, 70.