London: Harper & Brothers, 1901. 4to, 290pp. Hardcover binding with gilt lettering to spine and front board, and inlaid gilt illustration on front board. With fine black and white illustrations.
Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children and others as E. Nesbit. She was also a political activist and co-founder of the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. Nesbit's biographer Julia Briggs calls her "the first modern writer for children", who "helped to reverse the great tradition of children's literature inaugurated by Lewis Carroll, George MacDonald and Kenneth Grahame, in turning away from their secondary worlds to the tough truths to be won from encounters with things-as-they-are, previously the province of adult novels". Briggs also credits Nesbit with inventing the children's adventure story. Noël Coward was an admirer. In a letter to an early biographer, Noel Streatfeild wrote, "She had an economy of phrase and an unparalleled talent for evoking hot summer days in the English countryside." (wikipedia.com)
Condition: Fair. Please note that 2 of the plates are missing (pp. 73 & 221). Some rubbing and spots of edgewear to boards, edgewear, sunning and stains to spine. One page has come loose. Spots of foxing and small stains and smudges to some of the pages. Splitting to various of the gutters between pages. Text and plates are overall clean.
- Overall Condition: Fair
- Size: 4to
