Beschreibung:

POTTER, BEATRIX, illustrator ]. Our Dear Relations. By Fred E. Weatherly, Illustrated by H.B.P. and A.L. West. London: Hildesheimer & Faulkner, n.d. [circa 1892]. 6 chromolithographed illustrations (including 4 by Potter, the remainder by West). Oblong 12mo, 101 x 136 mm. (4 x 5 3/8 in.), original pictorial covers, stitch bound with blue silk cord with tassels, g.e., lower left corner on rear cover chipped, a few scrapes, some minor edge wear; a few leaves becoming loose (punch holes torn from cord); cloth chemise and slipcase. Not in Quinby, Linder, nor V & A. EXTREMELY RARE, this copy is one of only three copies known to exist (of the remaining two, one is incomplete). Following her initial rejection from Marcus Ward to publish her Christmas card designs published, her brother Walter [Bertram] then suggested the firm of Hildesheimer & Faulkner, who responded by sending a check for *6 and requesting more sketches. That evening Beatrix "...retired to bed, and lay awake chuckling till 2 in the morning..." The finished illustrations in Our Dear Relations (which are signed with her initials "H.B.P.") were among the sketches she submitted to Hildesheimer & Faulkner in 1890. See Beatrix Potter's Journal (London, 1966, f.p. 201) for a preliminary sketch of the mice dancing-- "If you choose either of the mice, I would draw the heads more carefully." Her drawings were published as Christmas and New Year Cards and, as in the case of the "Happy Pair" cards, were chosen along with others to be put together in a little booklet.