Description
First edition, first issue of A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Twelvemo, [2], x, 101pp. Publisher’s blue cloth binding with title in gilt on spine. Top edge gilt, fore edge untrimmed. This is the first issue binding with the apostrophe on the spine curved along the bottom and “OF” stamped in the same font size as “A.” A very good text block with bumped corners, rubbed covers, and faint sunning to spine. Light transference to endpapers, thin splits along both hinges, still sound. The first issue text, with half title present, no mention of “Two Series” in the author’s list of other works, and no advertisements from the publisher. Previous ownership bookplate and inscription to front endpapers. Inscription gifts the copy to Sylvia Laura Stanley, who placed her bookplate opposite the note. (Prideaux 14) (Beinecke 193) A nice example.
This collection of 64 children’s poems is considered one of the most influential works for children of the 19th century. Includes the first appaerance of “The Land of Counterpane,” “The Land of Nod,” “My Shadow,” “Uncle Sparky,” and “My Bed is a Boat.”
