Peter Rabbit’s Almanac for 1929
New York: Frederick Warne & Co., 1928. Item #06619
The Only Peter Rabbit Almanac
A Beautifully Inscribed First London Edition Presented by Beatrix Potter
During Her Lake District Years
POTTER, Beatrix. Peter Rabbit's Almanac for 1929. London: Frederick Warne & Co., Ltd., 1928.
First London edition. A handsome presentation copy, inscribed by Beatrix Potter on the front free endpaper: "For Beatrice Heap from Beatrix Potter Aug. 23. 29."
Twelvemo (4 13/16 x 3 5/8 inches; 123 x 92 mm.). [44] pp. Color frontispiece, color vignette on title-page, and twelve full-page color illustrations.
Publisher's original tan cloth boards, lettered in brown on covers and spine, each cover with its original color pictorial onlay depicting Peter Rabbit coming and going within a blind egg-shaped panel. Color pictorial endpapers. A few light scattered spots of foxing and a small pale stain touching the spine edge of the covers; otherwise an exceptionally well-preserved copy. Housed in a brown cloth clamshell case.
The bold inscription is beautifully positioned within Potter's charming decorative rabbit border, creating an unusually attractive presentation page.
Occupying a unique place in Beatrix Potter's bibliography, Peter Rabbit's Almanac for 1929 was conceived by Frederick Warne as the first in what was intended to become an annual series celebrating Peter Rabbit throughout the seasons. Combining calendar pages, seasonal observations, and specially arranged illustrations by Potter, it represented a significant departure from her familiar little books. The experiment, however, proved short-lived. Potter herself quickly became dissatisfied with the project, feeling that its preparation interfered with her increasingly demanding responsibilities as a farmer, breeder of Herdwick sheep, and landowner in the Lake District. No further almanacs were ever produced, leaving the 1929 Almanac as the sole example of its kind and one of the most unusual publications in the entire Peter Rabbit canon.
The recipient, Beatrice Heap, has not been positively identified, although the warm, informal wording of the inscription is entirely characteristic of the personal gift copies Potter presented during her later years at Near Sawrey. By 1929 she had largely withdrawn from publishing, devoting herself almost exclusively to farming and the preservation of the Lakeland countryside. Books inscribed during this mature period of her life are appreciably less common than the presentation copies of her Edwardian years and possess a particular appeal, reflecting the private circle of friends and acquaintances with whom she shared her books.
Copies of Peter Rabbit's Almanac for 1929 are uncommon in any condition, while inscribed examples are decidedly scarce. Combining the only Peter Rabbit almanac ever published with a bold contemporary inscription by its creator, the present volume represents one of the more unusual and desirable signed Potter books available to collectors.
Linder, A History of the Writings of Beatrix Potter, pp. 433-435. Quinby 30.
Price: $6,000.00