With drawings by Peggy Fortnum.
London, Collins, 1958
Paddington's debut. The debut of a certain bear from Peru with a penchant for marmalade sandwiches, a near-fine copy.
'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 edition; 8vo (207 x 144 mm); a little light spotting to fore-edges; publisher's coral cloth, lettered in silver, illustrated dust-jacket, short tear to foot of rear flap, small chip to base of rear panel, which also has some faint spotting that is also just evident on the fore-edge but in all, a near-fine, exceptionally bright and unrestored copy.
'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 edition; 8vo (207 x 144 mm); a little light spotting to fore-edges; publisher's coral cloth, lettered in silver, illustrated dust-jacket, short tear to foot of rear flap, small chip to base of rear panel, which also has some faint spotting that is also just evident on the fore-edge but in all, a near-fine, exceptionally bright and unrestored copy.
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