PETSETILLA'S POSY: A Fairy Tale. For Young and Old. With Fifty Illustrations by F. Barnard, Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel.
London: George Routledge and Sons, No date [1870]. First Edition (& 1st printing). Hardcover. Octavo, original green cloth over beveled boards, titled and decorated in gilt and black on spine and front panel, gray coated endpapers. 156 pp + 1 leaf of ads at rear. Frontispiece with tissue guard, plus numerous illustrations throughout the text, some full-page. Although undated, there is a pencil inscription dated Xmas, 1870 on an initial blank. Tiny corner creases, moderate foxing to first few leaves and tissue guard, neat repair to inner front hinge; a bright, very good copy. Very Good. Item #313715
¶ Elaborately illustrated Victorian juvenile fantasy novel. "... But Petsilla's Posy is another matter... it contains a clever and unexpected plot and a great deal of humour and invention. Many of the characters and situations may be borrowed, but this only adds to the enjoyment of the new and unexpected twists and additions which give a freshness and an odd spontaneousness to Tom Hood's one masterpiece that make one regret that Petsilla's Posy has been so long forgotten." - Roger Lancelyn Green "Following the Fairies" in TELLERS OF TALES: Children's Books and their authors from 1800 to 1968; London: Kaye & Ward, Revised Edition, 1969.
Price (CAD): $325.00