The Pie and the Patty-Pan

The Pie and the Patty-Pan, by Beatrix Potter. London: Frederick Warne and Co. and New York, 1905.

Pre-1930s edition, but not very early, in dark gray paper boards, featuring Ribby the cat sitting by the fire in a large circle on the front cover; end-papers with a design featuring a pie and a patty-pan. Sized 5.5 x 7.1 in, 52 pages. The first of Beatrix Potter's works to be published in a larger format. It is not a first edition due to the lack of the year 1905 on the front of the title page, the presence of decorated endpapers (plain mottled lavender endpapers in early printings), and the picture of Ribby the cat sitting by the fire in a large circle on the cover (only a cat in a small circle in early printings). First editions were “published with plain mottled lavender end-papers, and it was not until it was bound in a slightly different cover some years later that end-paper designs were used, featuring a pie and a patty-pan”. While not a first edition, this is, however, a pre-1930 publication, as “in 1930 the title was changed to The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan, and the book printed in the small format” (Linder, p.425). 

Good minus condition. Bumping to corners with further crushing to spine tips and slight wear to front joint. There is offsetting to prelims, several binding breaks throughout with netting exposed (but no loose pages), a name inscription penned to half-title page (Miss Daphne Reader), as well as some sporadic foxing and grubby thumb marks throughout. Only good minus.

A delightful tale features the main characters, Ribby the cat and Duchess the dog, as they navigate the mishaps of a tea party gone awry. A book that captures themes of friendship, misunderstandings, and the delightful chaos that arises from animal antics.