A Bear Called Paddington [and] More About Paddington.

First editions of the first two titles in the Paddington Bear series. The debut of a certain bear from Peru with a penchant for marmalade sandwiches and its sequel.

'I bought a small toy bear on Christmas Eve 1956. I saw it left on a shelf in a London store and felt sorry for it. I took it home as a present for my wife Brenda and named it Paddington as we were living near Paddington Station at the time. I wrote some stories about the bear, more for fun than with the idea of having them published. After ten days, I found that I had a book on my hands. It wasn't written specifically for children, but I think I put into it the kind things I liked reading about when I was young' (The Author).

First editions; 8vo (207 x 144 mm); the first title with sporadic, mostly marginal light foxing throughout, heavier to endpapers and preliminary leaves, including title-pate, light spotting to fore-edges; publisher's coral cloth, lettered in silver, ink gift-inscription and book-plate to upper end paper, bumping and discolouration to spine ends and corners, illustrated dust-jacket, price-clipped, soiled and spotted, chipped at spine-ends and corners of flap-folds with some loss but not affecting text or illustrations; the second title with the occasional, minor spotting but heavier to endpapers and half-title, ink gift-inscription to upper endpaper dated Christmas 1959, with illustrated bookplate, otherwise internally very good; publisher's blue cloth, lettered in silver, age-toned and bumped at extremities, illustrated dust-jacket, not price-clipped, soiled and spotted, chipped and split on spine-folds and flap-folds with losses to spine, flap-folds and lower edge of upper panel, generally dust-soiled, spotted and some staining to rear panel; well-read and not too well cared for first editions of the first two title, totally unrestored.