Lot 238
  • 238

Potter, Beatrix

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Potter, Beatrix
  • The Tale of Peter Rabbit. [London: privately printed for the author], February 1902
  • paper
16mo (131 x 104mm.), FIRST EDITION, SECOND ISSUE [ONE OF 200 COPIES], PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR ("for J. Squire | from Miss Potter | March 26. 1902") on front free endpaper, frontispiece in colour and 41 full-page black and white illustrations, original olive-green boards with rounded spine, collector's folding box, slight browning to endpapers, occasional light soiling, some loose leaves reinserted, some professional restoration to binding

Provenance

Christie's, South Kensington, 15 December 1993, lot 101

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

The inscription connects different sides of Beatrix Potter: the author and illustrator was also an amateur mycologist and scientific artist. The botanist J. Squire assisted Potter in her research for her paper 'On the Germination of the Spores of Agaricineae' (presented to the Linnean Society) on 1 April 1897.

In her Journal, Potter noted that on 29 December 1897 she 'went to see J. Squire who was out, to ask him about dry-rot... I was rather taken aback to receive a sample the same evening in a brownpaper parcel. I put it under a foot-path in the garden. How I should catch it, my parents are not devoted to the cause of science... There was a communication form J.S. on ruled paper, not just the questions I wanted. He is an intelligent little man.'