The Tale of Peter Rabbit : The Warne Archive Collection
London: Folio Society, 2022. Full color and black and white illustrations by Beatrix Potter. Limited edition. Three facsimile editions of The Tale of Peter Rabbit with other facsimile ephemera, set into publisher's large, blue cloth clamshell. 14" x 13.75" All volumes fine, in fine publisher's presentation box. Item #241945
THE BIRTH OF PETER RABBIT
Beginning her career as a remarkable mycologist and sheep breeder, Beatrix Potter tripped into the world of Peter Rabbit as she filled her letter to a sick little boy with sketches of Peter and his raucous adventures. The Folio Society's limited edition tells the story of Peter's birth, beginning with a facsimiles of Potter's iconic letter and of the 1901 privately printed edition, with delicate black and white illustrations bound in simple boards after the boy's mother urged Potter to transform the tales into books. Potter, with her science background, was meticulous about orchestrating each of her publications, as seen in the facsimile of her 1902 mock-up (maquette), where she showed the exact size, perfect for a child's hands, and re-sketched her illustrations for the Frederick Warne and Co. publication. Only after being perfected could Potter's tale enter the marketplace, culminating in this set's facsimile of the 1902 deluxe first commercial edition, rephotographed to fully capture Potter's soft line work and coloring.
Produced for Peter Rabbit's 120th anniversary, The Folio Society's edition also includes an art print, five miniature Christmas letters, a commentary by Emma Thompson and Sara Glenn, and a limitation certificate, all housed in a clamshell line with paper stamped with Peter's little face peeking out of the vegetable patch. Limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies and twenty lettered copies hors de commerce, of which this is 990.
Price: $650.00