Browse our selection of children’s books, depicting beloved characters such as the Grinch, the Lorax and Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, including Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and the first edition Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, such as The Sorcerer’s Stone.

Children's Books

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first issue of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;query=A.A.%20Milne&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A.A. Milne</a>'s <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;query=Winnie%20The%20Pooh&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Winnie The Pooh</a>.<ul><li>A. A.&nbsp;Milne (English).</li><li>Illustrated by E. H. Shephard.</li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1926.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped green cloth, top edge gilt, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, in a protective mylar jacket.</li></ul>

Winnie The Pooh

A collection of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Type=First%2520Edition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> Twilight Saga books by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?Book%20Type=First%2520Edition&amp;query=Stephenie%20Meyer&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephenie Meyer</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5 volumes.</li><li>Stephenie Meyer (American).</li><li>Twilight Saga: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Midnight Sun.</li><li>[5 Volumes] [signed]</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Megan Tingley Books/Little, Brown, and Company,&nbsp;2005-2020.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Signed flat by Stephenie Meyer on title pages of Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4, and on the front end-page of Volume 5.</li><li>Volumes 2, 3, and 4 have a numbered sticker on the front mylar covers, Volume 3 has a light grey 'Autographed' sticker on the front cover, and Volume 5 has a black and white 'Signed Copy' sticker on the front cover.</li><li>Volume 2 contains a loose page of temporary tattoos and 'Olivia' bookmark between the front mylar and cover flaps.&nbsp;</li><li>Volume 4 contains a loose page of stickers between the front end-page and pastedown.</li><li>Volume 5 contains a loose pink bookmark between the front mylar and cover flaps.</li><li>Black spines with hands holding an apple on Volume 1, a red and white flower on Volume 2, a ribbon along Volume 3, a white chess piece on Volume 4, and an open pomegranate on Volume 5, each with white and silver gilted lettering, dust jackets are all wrapped in mylar coverings.</li></ul>

Twilight Collection

A collection of signed first edition books and ephemera by Lemony Snicket.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 16 volumes, plus ephemera.</li><li>Lemony Snicket [Daniel Handler] (American).</li><li>Includes: A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Biography, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid, The Beatrice Letters, as well as several items of ephemera.</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Harper Collins,&nbsp;1999-2007.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Each is signed.</li><li>Thirteen volumes with monochrome paper spines and white lettering.</li><li>One volume with tan and brown spine an black lettering.</li><li>One volume with green pictorial spine and black lettering.</li><li>One volume with brown spine and yellow lettering.</li></ul> Complete Contents:Book The First: A Bad Beginning&nbsp;(162 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 1999. 18th printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Second: The Reptile Room (190 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 1999. First printing. Protected in mylar wrap.Book The Third: The Wide Window&nbsp;(214 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2000. First printing. Protected in mylar wrap.Book The Fourth: The Miserable Mill (194 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2000. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Fifth: The Austere Academy (221 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2000. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Sixth: The Ersatz Elevator (259 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2001. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Seventh: The Vile Village (256 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2001. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Eighth: The Hostile Hospital&nbsp;(255 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2001. First printing. -- BOOK THE NINTH: THE Carnivorous Carnival (286 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2002. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Tenth: The Slippery Slope (337 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2003. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Eleventh: The Grim Grotto (323 pages). New York: Harper Collins, 2004. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page.Book The Twelfth: The Penultimate Peril (353 pages). New York: Harper Collins, 2005. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page; additionally inscribed by illustrator on the same page.Book The Thirteenth: The End (324, [16], 13 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2006. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on dedication page; additionally inscribed by illustrator on the same page.The Beatrice Letters (unpaginated), New York: Harper Collins, 2006. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed (with minor smudging) by the author on dedication page. Soft cover, housed in publisher's hardcover folder, with accompanying poster.Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (212 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2002. First printing. Stamped, dated, and inscribed by the author on half title; with orange sticker to dust jacket.Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid (168 pages), New York: Harper Collins, 2007. First printing. Signed and dated by the author on title page. With dust jacket protected ny mylar covering; mylar covering with small white numbered sticker to lower right front corner.With various ephemera, including two strips of temporary tattoos (one with moderate creasing, wear, and age toning), a sheet of stickers, an iron-on transfer, a notepad, a pack of "Misfortune Telling Cards," and a poster for an event with Lemony Snicket (folded, and with moderate creasing and wear).

Lemony Snicket Collection

A finely bound, First Robinson Edition of A Child's Garden of Verses.<ul><li>Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish).</li><li>Illustrated by Charles Robinson.</li><li>London:&nbsp;John Lane, The Bodley Head,&nbsp;1896.</li><li>Bound in full green leather with 6 gilt stamped compartments on the spine, and single gilt ruled borders on the covers, all edges gilt, original cloth boards and backstrip bound in.</li></ul>

A Child's Garden Of Verses

A first American edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.<ul><li>Mark Twain (American).</li><li>New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.</li><li>Please note the image is a representative image of this item and not a photograph of the exact item available for purchase. For exact specifications, please Enquire.</li><li>Please note that availability of this item is subject to change. For details, please Enquire.</li></ul>

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

A finely bound edition of Just So Stories.<ul><li>Rudyard Kipling (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Macmillan &amp; Co.,&nbsp;1950.</li><li>Illustrated throughout by the author.</li><li>Bound in full red calf with gilt-tooled elephant on the front cover, gilt-tooling with blue and tan labels on the raised band spine, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers.</li></ul>

Just So Stories

A collection of signed, first edition children's books by Madonna.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5 volumes.</li><li>Madonna (American).</li><li>Illustrated by Rui Paes, Olga Dugina, Andrej Dugin, Gennady Spirin, Loren Long, and Jeffrey Fulrimari.</li><li>Includes the following titles: The English Roses, Mr. Peabody's Apples, Yakov And The Seven Thieves, The Adventures Of Abdi, Lotsa De Casha.</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Callaway,&nbsp;2003-2005.&nbsp;</li><li>Quartos.</li><li>Volumes 2 and 3 are signed flat by Madonna on the "this book belongs to:" pages.&nbsp;</li><li>Volumes 1, 4, and 5 are signed "Love Madonna" by Madonna on the "this book belongs to:" pages.</li><li>Volume 1 contains a loose bookmark between the front end-page and pastedown.&nbsp;</li><li>Volumes 2, 3, 4, and 5 contain loose certificates of authenticity between their front end-pages and pastedowns, Volumes 2 and 3 being from 'Starworld' and Volumes 4 and 5 being from 'Estates-Plus'. </li><li>Volume 1 has a white spine with light blue raindrop designs with black lettering outlined in colored boxes, and a white and polka-dotted open slipcase with drawings of various characters from the book on the front and rear covers.</li><li>Volume 2 has a landscape blue and brown spine with black, blue, and red lettering outlined in white boxes outlined in gold-brown.</li><li>Volume 3 has a dark brown spine with red and black lettering outlined in white boxes.</li><li>Volume 4 has a tan spine with blue and green lettering outlined in white and yellow boxes.</li><li>Volume 5 has a red spine with black, blue, and red lettering outlined in white boxes.</li></ul>

Books For Children Series

A limited edition copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, signed by Salvador Dali.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Salvador Dali.</li><li>New York: Maecenas Press - Random House, 1969.</li><li>With frontispiece and 12 illustrations.</li><li>The frontispiece is a signed etching by Salvador Dali, limited to 2500 numbered copies on Mandeure paper of which this is number 676, signed by Dali on the title-page.</li><li>Presented in the original tan leather backed clamshell box, gilt lettered spine, with the original gilt stamped brown cloth chemise.</li></ul>

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

An inscribed presentation copy of Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll (English).</li><li>Illustrated by John Tenniel.</li><li>London: Macmillan &amp; Co., 1877.</li><li>Inscribed by Dodgson on the half-title "Mariella York Powell, from the Author. Nov. 23, 1897", in black ink.</li><li>Bound in the scarce white paper and leatherette binding, reproducing the gilt decoration of the red cloth editions, all edges gilt, black pastedowns and endpapers, housed in a quarter red morocco slipcase.</li></ul> Mariella York Powell was the daughter of Frederick York Powell who was close friends with John Butler Yeats whom the artist first met on his move to Bedford Park, London in the late 1880s.

Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There

A finely bound, fifth edition copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll (English).</li><li>Illustrated by John Tenniel.</li><li>London: Macmillan &amp; Co., 1868.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>With half title and 42 woodcut illustrations (including frontispiece).</li><li>Bound in modern full red morocco, gilt-paneled, spines with raised bands in six compartments, lettered in gilt in second and fourth compartments, gilt-stamped designs of playing cards and the March Hare in other compartments.</li></ul>

A finely bound edition of The Fables of Aesop.<ul><li>Aesop (Greek).</li><li>Translated by Sir Roger L'Estrange.</li><li>Waltham Saint Lawrence: The Golden Cockerel Press, 1926.</li><li>With wood-engraved silhouettes by the Central School of Arts and Crafts illustrator Celia M. Fiennes (1902-1998).</li><li>Part of a limited edition, this being number 250 of 350 copies.</li><li>Bound in green morocco by Bayntun-Riviere, the upper panel onlaid with cockerel design in red, within quadruple gilt frame, spine lettered in gilt, top-edge gilt, others uncut.</li></ul> A copy of an important illustrated edition of Aesop’s Fables, the text taken from the 1692 edition of L’Estrange’s translation. "The work of the engravers of Golden Cockerel books gives the Press its greatest distinction and made a whole period of woodcut revival" (Franklin).

The Fables of Aesop

A finely bound, First Rackham Edition copy of The Wind in the Willows.<ul><li>Kenneth Grahame (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.</li><li>With an introduction by A.A. Milne.</li><li>New York: Limited Editions Club, 1940.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>245 pages.</li><li>Includes 16 tipped-in color plates (including frontispiece), title page vignette printed in green, and the title and chapter numbers printed in gilt.</li><li>Limited to 2,020 copies, signed and numbered by the designer of the book, Bruce Rogers.</li><li>Bound in green morocco gilt by the Chelsea Bindery, upper cover titled and blocked in gilt, paneled spine in six compartments, gilt lettered direct in second and fifth, raised bands, top edge gilt, others uncut.</li></ul> The Wind in the Willows was the last book illustrated by Arthur Rackham, published shortly after his death. The illustrations did not appear in a British edition until 1950. "Slowly, the drawings for The Wind in the Willows neared completion. The last drawing of all to be completed was that of Rat and Mole loading their boat for the picnic. When he thought he had finished it, he suddenly discovered that there were no oars in the boat... He insisted that everything must be put right and with great labour he altered the drawing. After he had finished, he lay back in his bed and said 'Thank goodness, that is the last one.’ And so it proved in every sense." (Derek Hudson, Arthur Rackham: His Life and Work).

The Wind in the Willows

A first edition, signed copy of Ambrose Bierce's Fantastic Fables.<ul><li>Ambrose Bierce (American).</li><li>New York and London:&nbsp;G.P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press,&nbsp;1899.</li><li>12mo.</li><li>194 pages.</li><li>Signed by Bierce on the flyleaf.</li><li>Bound in the original tan pictorial cloth stamped in blue, red, black and gold.</li></ul>

Fantastic Fables

A first edition copy of Walt Disney's Fantasia, inscribed by the composer to his daughter.<ul><li>Deems Taylor (American).</li><li>Introduction by Walt Disney.</li><li>Foreword by Leopold Stokowski.</li><li>Lithographs by the Western Printing and Lithographing Company.</li><li>New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940.</li><li>158 pages.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>With colored and black and white lithographic illustrations, with 16 of the color illustrations tipped in.</li><li>Inscribed on the flyleaf to the author’s daughter, Joan Kennedy Taylor: "For my dear Joan, with all my love. Deems"</li><li>Bound in the original tan cloth, lettered in blue.</li></ul>

Fantasia

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/sothebys-&amp;-abbeville-press-capsule-libraries" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sotheby's &amp; Abbeville Capsule Libraries</a>&nbsp;present a curated selection of Abbeville Press books from the personal archive of publisher Bob Abrams, in conjunction with&nbsp;Art without Boundaries: The Abrams Family Collection. A collection of the children's art book series,&nbsp;How Artists See.<ul><li>Sold as a collection of 3 box sets, with 4 volumes in each.</li><li>Colleen Carroll (American).</li><li>Includes the following&nbsp;How Artists See&nbsp;titles:</li><li>How Artists See: Animals / People / Feelings / Weather.</li><li>How Artists See: Work / Play / Families / America.</li><li>How Artists See: Heroes / Artists / Cities / Elements.</li><li>New York: Abbeville Kids, 2008.</li><li>Hardcovers.</li><li>Illustrated throughout.</li><li>Each set is bound in printed boards and comes in a matching slipcase.</li></ul> How Artists See&nbsp;is a series of interactive, inquiry-based books designed to teach children the art of observation and increase their visual literacy. Each volume presents eighteen diverse works of art, all devoted to a subject that children know from personal experience. Author Colleen Carroll’s friendly, conversational text is filled with thought-provoking questions that promote exploration, self-expression and fun. First published in 2001, this capsule is the complete collection of Abbeville’s&nbsp;How Artists See&nbsp;series, and promotes self-exploration, self-discovery and self-expression in children.&nbsp;

How Artists See Collection

Complete deluxe editions of the Harry Potter series.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>J.K. Rowling (English, b. 1965).</li><li>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.</li><li>London, UK: Bloomsbury, 1999-2007.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Volume 1 has a light red cloth spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volume 2 has a Carolina blue cloth spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volume 3 has an emerald cloth spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volume 4 has an indigo cloth spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volume 5 has an auburn cloth spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volume 6 has a blue cloth spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volume 7 has a black spine with gilt lettering.</li><li>Volumes 1-5 are in publisher's indigo slipcase which lists the titles of each volume on the rear board in gilt lettering, has a gilt depiction of Hogwarts Express on both side boards, gilt copies of J.K. Rowling's signature on both side boards and rear boards, text blocks of all volumes have gilt edges, volume 1 has a blue silk bookmark ribbon attached to the spine head, volume 2 has a green silk bookmark ribbon attached to spine, volume 3 has a yellow bookmark ribbon attached to the spine head, volume 4 has a ruby-red silk bookmark ribbon attached to the spine head, volume 5 has a golden silk bookmark ribbon attached to the spine head, volume 6 has an evergreen silk bookmark ribbon attached to the spine head and volume 7 has a Byzantine purple silk bookmark ribbon attached to the spine head.</li></ul>

Harry Potter Series

A first UK edition, first printing copy of C.S. Lewis'&nbsp;The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.<ul><li>C.S. Lewis (English, 1898-1963).</li><li>Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.</li><li>London: Geoffrey Bles, 1952.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>223 pages.</li><li>Dust jacket protected with a mylar covering, price uncut: "10s. 6d. net."</li></ul>

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

A first UK edition, first printing copy of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian.<ul><li>C.S. Lewis (English, 1898-1963).</li><li>Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.</li><li>London: Geoffrey Bles, 1952.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>223 pages.</li><li>Dust jacket protected with a mylar covering, price uncut: "10s. 6d. net."</li></ul>

Prince Caspian: The Return To Narnia

A limited edition of King Arthur, which has been signed by the illustrator.<ul><li>Sir Thomas Malory (English, died 1471).</li><li>Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.</li><li>London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.</li><li>Illustrated with 16 tipped-in color plates (titled tissue guards after each plate) and 70 black and white illustrations.</li><li>Limited to 500 numbered copies signed by the illustrator Arthur Rackham, this being copy #243.</li><li>Bound in the original publisher's gilt stamped vellum, top edge gilt, others uncut, housed in a 1/2 gilt lettered &amp; decorated, blue morocco clamshell slipcase.</li></ul> Rackham received his commission for this superbly illustrated edition of Malory's masterpiece (first published by Caxton in 1485) while World War I still raged—a fact that perhaps explains his illustrations' generally dark view of the Matter of Britain. From Arthur's first unsheathing of Excalibur in the midst of fierce battle beneath overcast skies, to his tragic clash with his traitorous son on the dark fields of Camlann, Rackham confronts readers with combat, conflict and death. Despite (or perhaps even because of) this grim realism within a fantastic context, "Rackham's work became balm for wounded soldiers, as one mother wrote: ' ...When [my son] was getting better from very bad wounds... your illustrations of Books were his great joy and delight'" (Hamilton, 112).

The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

A limited edition of Now We Are Six, signed by Christopher Milne.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English, 1882-1956).</li><li>Illustrated by E. H. Shepard.</li><li>London: Methuen Children's Books, 1977.</li><li>With pictorial pastedowns and endpapers.</li><li>Limited to 300 copies, this being number 32.</li><li>Includes the signed limitation correction slip and letter from the publisher.</li><li>Bound in full maroon morocco, gilt decorated spine and covers, all edges gilt, housed in the original card open-ended slipcase.</li></ul>

Now We Are Six

A limited edition of Wonder Book, signed by the illustrator.<ul><li>Nathaniel Hawthorne (American, 1804-1864).</li><li>Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.</li><li>London: Hodder&amp; Stoughton, Ltd., 1922.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Illustrated in black and white and tipped-in color plates.</li><li>Limited to 600 numbered and signed copies, of which this is copy #220.</li><li>Bound in full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled in gilt, title and illustrated head piece to preface gilt to front cover, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, top edge gilt, others uncut as issued, by Zaehnsdorf.</li></ul> First published in 1851, when Hawthorne was at the height of his literary career, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys contains a selection of retellings of several Greek myths including The Gorgon's Head, The Golden Touch, The Paradise of Children, The Three Golden Apples, The Miraculous Pitcher and The Chimaera.

A Wonder Book

A signed, limited edition copy of Mother Goose.<ul><li>Tasha Tudor (American).</li><li>New York: Oxford University Press, 1944.</li><li>87 pages.</li><li>Illustrated by Tudor on every page, most in color, with verse below.</li><li>One of only 500 copies for private distribution.</li><li>Signed by Tudor.</li><li>Letter laid in from the publisher presenting the book to a woman bookstore owner.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in the original cloth, in the original price-clipped dust jacket, dark green topstain.</li></ul>

Mother Goose

A limited edition of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.<ul><li>Hans Christian Andersen (Danish).</li><li>Illustrated by Kay Nielsen.</li><li>London: Hodder &amp; Stoughton, 1924.</li><li>197 pages.</li><li>12 tipped-in color plates and many full-page black-and-white plates throughout.</li><li>One of only 500 numbered copies signed by the illustrator.</li><li>Bound in the original full vellum, gilt-stamped boards and spine, top edge gilt, other edges uncut.&nbsp;</li><li>Housed in custom window-framed slipcase.&nbsp;</li></ul> Nielsen illustrates the work of fellow Dane, Andersen, in this gorgeous deluxe gift book with a style mixing "some of the decorative design of Art Nouveau with the bold shapes of Art Deco" (Menges). Includes "The Snow Queen," "The Nightingale" and more.&nbsp;

Signed Illustrated Limited Edition Fairy Tales

A finely bound collection of Japanese fairy tales.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5 volumes.</li><li>Translated by Lafcadio Hearn.</li><li>Philadelphia: Macrae Smith Company, circa 1915.</li><li>Included are the following titles (all large paper copies): "The Boy Who Drew Cats"; "The Goblin Spider"; "The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumpling"; "The Fountain of Youth"; and "Chin-Chin Kobakama."</li><li>Illustrated in color throughout.</li><li>Bound in the original pictorial crepe paper wrappers with silk ties bound fukuro-toji style, housed in publisher's folding cloth case with pictorial lining and original clasps.</li></ul>

Japanese Fairy Tales

A signed watercolor used in Tudor's Caldecott Honor book, Mother Goose.<ul><li>Tasha Tudor (American, 1915-2008).</li><li>This image appears on page 63 of the book.</li><li>It accompanies "Sing a Song of Sixpence" and depicts the King, Queen, three other adults and two little children seated at a feast with the birds just coming out of the pie.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>

Sing a Song of Sixpence Watercolor Illustration

A signed limited first American edition of the third book in the Pooh series.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>Illustrated by E.H. Shepard.</li><li>New York: E.P. Dutton &amp; Company, 1927.</li><li>103 pages.</li><li>Signed by Milne and Shepard on limitation page.</li><li>Bound in original half pink cloth, light blue paper boards with vignettes in black, in original light blue pictorial dust jacket, with light blue endpapers, fore-edge and bottom edge uncut, text block unopened, printed on Japanese vellum.</li></ul> The furry friends of the Hundred Acre Wood, based on real-life toys, are incorporated into these children's poems. Winnie the Pooh is Christopher Robin's constant companion, but readers also run into Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga and Roo. Within only a couple months of publication, this installment of the Pooh series had already outsold its (bestselling) predecessor, Winnie the Pooh. This deluxe production for the United States was limited to only 200 copies.

An inscribed first edition, with a purple ink inscription by Carroll in the year of publication to the wife of the playwright who tried to take Alice to the theater.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Harry Furniss.</li><li>London: Macmillan, 1889.</li><li>400 pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Inscribed by Carroll in purple ink on half title.</li><li>Bound in original full gilt-stamped red cloth, all edges gilt.</li></ul> This copy is inscribed to "Mrs. Dubourg": the Dubourgs appear a number of times in the journals and letters of Lewis Carroll. Augustus William Dubourg was an author and playwright who attempted to get Alice's Adventures in Wonderland produced on stage. Carroll also formed a friendship with their daughter Evelyn, who was either 10 or 12 when they first met. He frequently met with the family when in town, and continued to make special visits with them over the course of many years. Sylvie and Bruno is a tale of Fairyland, which grew from the episodic stories of two characters that Carroll would often tell to children. In it, Carroll sought to create an entirely original approach to the fairy story—just as he had with Alice, which now had so many imitations that Carroll hoped once more to prove his ingenuity; a few of the scenes were apparently inspired by dreams.

Sylvie and Bruno

A first printing of the classic picture book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.<ul><li>Virginia Lee Burton (American).</li><li>Boston:&nbsp;Houghton Mifflin,&nbsp;1939.</li><li>44 pages.</li><li>Bound in original tan pictorial cloth, in original price-clipped red pictorial dust jacket, with color pictorial endpapers.&nbsp;</li></ul> Along with Sendak and McCloskey, Burton is among the handful of picture book creators whose talents were equally accomplished in both roles, as author and artist. Burton was a perfectionist obsessed with design theory, which she explored in the deceptively simple format. Mike Mulligan is acclaimed for its attention to the small details, while maintaining a clear and spirited through-line: "The wonder is that she achieved what she wanted without losing the spontaneity," noted Barbara Bader. As a result, her books are often read to tatters and not many collectible first editions of this title exist.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

A first edition of The Adventures of Pinocchio in English.<ul><li>Carlo Collodi (Italian).</li><li>Translated by Mary Alice Murray.</li><li>Illustrated by E. Mazzanti (incorrectly printed as "C. Mazzanti").</li><li>London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1892.&nbsp;</li><li>232 pages.</li><li>Bound in the original decorative cloth with the blue floral design repeated on the text block edges and endpapers, half title and title printed in red and black.&nbsp;</li><li>Housed in custom blue quarter goatskin clamshell box.</li></ul>

Story of a Puppet, Or the Adventures of Pinocchio

A first edition copy of Dickens' Oliver Twist.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by George Cruikshank.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Richard Bentley,&nbsp;1838.</li><li>Bound in full 19th-century brown calf with red and green morocco spine labels and gilt decoration, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers.</li></ul> Dickens's second novel, Oliver Twist, provided the author with an ideal canvas for his most furious and dazzling rages against injustice, against hypocrisy, against poverty and against base corruption. At its center is the pure and put-upon Oliver, flung from the cruelty of the orphanarium into the viciousness of a den of thieves, surely the most virtuous and long-suffering of all shining Victorian child saints—at least, of all those who survive the three-volume novels in which they find themselves—and around him orbit a selection of some of the most memorable villains in English literature. The first edition in book form was published before the final installments had yet appeared in serial form, and consequently Dickens objected to Cruikshank's final illustration too late to prevent its inclusion in the first issue; his desired substitution was completed by November 16, 1838, along with certain modifications to the title page (Smith). This copy, while bearing all indications of the first issue, is distinguished by the additional inclusion of the later "Church" plate, likely added during its rebinding.&nbsp;

Oliver Twist

A first printing copy of the classic American children's book about an orphan boy growing up on the banks of the Mississippi River in Missouri.<ul><li>Mark Twain (American).</li><li>Hartford, Connecticut: The American Publishing Company, 1876.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in original blue pictorial cloth elaborately stamped in black and gilt on spine and front board, peach endpapers, triple fly leaves on laid paper.&nbsp;</li></ul> While Twain is best known today as the author of canonical children's books like this one and its sequel, Huck Finn, before Tom Sawyer he was actually famous instead as a travel writer and humorist lecturer. Tom Sawyer was Twain's first novel entirely composed by him (an earlier novel, The Gilded Age, was co-authored with his friend Charles Dudley Warner). While it did eventually achieve bestseller status, its initial reception was modest, with a first printing of only 5,000 copies. Today, its reputation has made it a highly sought rarity in the first printing, as here, and copies in great condition are scarce. Twain bibliographer Kevin MacDonnell summarizes it thus: "This was a true boy's book, and surviving copies are proof of how rough on books little boys can be."

Adventures of Tom Sawyer

First printing, state A, of the continuing travels of Tom Sawyer, with authorial responsibility assigned to "Huck Finn, edited by Mark Twain."<ul><li>Mark Twain (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Charles L. Webster &amp; Company,&nbsp;1894.</li><li>Illustrated with half-tone plates by Dan Beard.</li><li>Bound in original tan pictorial cloth.</li></ul>

Tom Sawyer Abroad

A&nbsp;set of the first printings of the second US edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Jackets and label designed by Robert Quackenbush.&nbsp;</li><li>Boston/Cambridge:&nbsp;Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press,&nbsp;1967.</li><li>424, 452 and 440 pages respectively.</li><li>With all folding maps (by Tolkien's son Christopher) present.</li><li>Houghton Mifflin review slips loosely laid into each volume.</li><li>Bound in the original publisher's full black gilt-stamped cloth all in original unclipped ($6.00) color pictorial dust jackets.</li></ul> Tolkien's Middle Earth grew not only from his experiences in World War I and studies as a professor of English language and literature at Oxford, but from his childhood hobby of constructed languages (conlangs). Tolkien argued in his essay "A Secret Vice" that "for perfect construction of an art-language it is found necessary to construct at least in outline a mythology" along with it. In other words, "your language construction will breed a mythology." Middle Earth sprang into being in part so that Tolkien could draw on a mature culture, history and mythology for his beloved conlangs. As a result, we have Bilbo, Frodo and Sam; Gandalf the Grey, and Aragorn who is Strider; the One Ring, the covetous Gollum; and a harrowing journey to Mount Doom. Houghton published the first US editions of the trilogy from 1954-1956. This second US edition follows closely the second UK from Allen &amp; Unwin of the previous year, which was heavily revised and corrected by the author. These books, marketed as the "Revised Edition" and including a new foreword by Tolkien, were issued both as individual volumes (as here) and a slipcased set.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

A complete set of the Harry Potter series, deluxe edition.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1999-2007.</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Bound in original cloth, gilt decoration, illustrations to upper covers.</li></ul> A rare, as-new deluxe set of Rowling's seminal work of children's literature. The "Potter" books, initially published from 1997 to 2007, have been translated into eighty languages and are among the most popular works of literature the twenty-first century has yet produced. Writing first in Edinburgh cafés and later under worldwide media scrutiny, Rowling created one of the most immersive and beloved magical worlds in modern fantasy. Though the series has now spawned an award-winning play and additional film franchise, the novels remain Rowling's finest and most distinctive work. An essential addition to any "Potter" fan's library.

Harry Potter Collection

Signed first printings of the deluxe editions of the Harry Potter series, all dedicated to the same family, with three additionally signed "Jo."<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Bloomsbury,&nbsp;1999-2007.</li><li>Every volume is inscribed to the same recipients; Philosopher's Stone, Half-Blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix signed both "JK Rowling" and "Jo."</li><li>Each volume bound in original cloth of various colors with tipped-in illustration, gilt-lettered front boards and spines, original silk ribbon markers.</li><li>Housed in custom red cloth slipcase.</li></ul> These deluxe editions, slightly larger in format and produced with higher quality materials, were one way Bloomsbury responded to reader demand, especially in the gift market. Unfortunately, the Harry Potter market has been so hot in recent years that her signature is now notorious for its proliferation of forgeries, with even Rowling commenting on the problem (Deadline, "Rowling reveals many books 'signed' by her are fakes"). In such a market, a set like this—inscribed to a single family, friends of the author who called her "Jo," is exceptional.

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A.A. Milne

Stephenie Meyer

Lemony Snicket [Daniel Handler]

Robert Louis Stevenson

Mark Twain

Rudyard Kipling

Madonna

Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

Aesop

Kenneth Grahame, Arthur Rackham

Ambrose Bierce

Walt Disney, Deems Taylor

Colleen Carroll

Colleen Carroll

J.K. Rowling

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

Arthur Rackham, Sir Thomas Malory

A.A. Milne

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Tasha Tudor

Kay Nielsen, Andersen, Hans Christian

Tasha Tudor

A.A. Milne

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

Virginia Lee Burton

Carlo Collodi

Charles Dickens

Mark Twain

Mark Twain

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling