Tale of Tom Kitten, The

London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1907. First Edition of “Tom Kitten”

POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Tom Kitten. London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1907.

First edition. Twelvemo (5 7/16 x 4 1/8 inches; 138 x 105 mm.). 84, [1], [1, blank] pp. Color frontispiece and twenty-six color plates (included in pagination). Black and white vignette on title-page.

Publisher's greenish brown boards ruled and lettered in white on front cover and lettered in white on spine. Color pictorial paper label on front cover within a blind rectangular panel with rounded corners outlined in blind. Color pictorial endpapers (Quinby Plate III). Minimal (truncated) rubbing to board edges, spine very slightly darkened, otherwise a fine copy.

One of the author's most well-known titles, a study in manners and children's intuitive abhorrence of such things perhaps. Potter began work on Tom Kitten in the summer of 1g06, using the gardens and Hill Top as the backdrop. She wrote her publisher Harold Warne: "I have not quite finished the Kitten, it is an exasperating model; and I always find it difficult to settle to work in the country. I hope I have not been inconveniently long about it." Despite this exasperation the character remains one of her most enduring, and saw spin-off painting and music books, as well as a wide range of other merchandising.

Linder, p. 427. Quinby 13. V & A 1667. (Inventory #: 06100)