Beschreibung:

Barrie, J[ames] M[atthew (1860-1937). Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. London: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d. (but thought to be 1912). With Twenty-four Drawings by Arthur Rackham 8vo, green cloth with gilt design of a cherubic figure sitting on a toadstool and playing panpipes on front, gilt lettering on spine. Each drawing with captioned tissue guard. Barrie first introduced Peter Pan in The Little White Bird in 1902. Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was performed on stage in 1904. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens had its first edition published in 1906. (This copy with a previous owner's name and date of 1914, so at least earlier than that.) The story was taken from The Little White Bird, where it appeared as Chapters 13 - 18, and published separately following the success of the play. In Peter and Wendy, which first appeared in 1911, Peter is older than in Kensington Gardens. Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) was commissioned to illustrate Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens after his success with Rip Van Winkle, his first color illustrations, although he was well-known for black-and-white illustrations prior to these. He was given a year and a half to complete the illustrations, originally 50 in number. This revised edition only has about half of that number, but the images are interspersed throughout the text, not placed at the end as they were in the first version. Condition: Binding is weak. At least one plate was never quite "caught" in the binding, and the right edge has frayed (although the tissue guard is bound in). A couple other plates are threatening to escape where the binding has cracked a bit. All 24 are present.