APPLEY DAPPLEY'S NURSERY RHYMES

London: Frederick Warne and Co, 1917. First printing. Near fine.. First edition of this collection of nursery rhymes, new and traditional, within the Peter Rabbit universe. Potter's interest in traditional nursery rhymes goes back as far as 1893, when she illustrated a version of "You know the old woman who lived in a shoe?", which appears in this collection. Even after the publication of PETER RABBIT, Potter kept thinking about her nursery rhyme adaptations, but it would not be until 1917 that she would publish them here. Her own success pushed off the project for years, until she was finally able to connect the rhymes for Warne's approval: "it makes a pretty little book," she wrote the publisher when she received her first copies. 4.75'' x 4''. Original light green cloth boards lettered in red with central pictorial paste-on. Color pictorial endpapers. Illustrated by Potter with 15 color plates and black-and-white title vignette. 54 pages. Small smudge to corner of rear board, very light sunning to spine, else lovely. (Inventory #: 39987)