Marrin's Bookshop

Synopsis

Illustrated by katherine sturges.

Item Description

8vo. 7.75 x 5.5 inches. 154 pp. Bound in original blue cloth, gilt,with gilt block on front board, in unclipped pink pictorial dust wrapper, which has loss at head and tail of sunned spine. Spine titles faded, but otherwise a very good copy. FIRST EDITION. SECOND ISSUE. Illustrated 13 whole paqe black and white drawings, including frontispiece. The last book to be both written and published in the lifetime of Beatrix Potter (1866-1943). It is a a version of the story of Bluebeard, the legendary French wife-killing nobleman, the heroine of the title being the sister of Bluebeard's last wife. It was originally planned to form part of her previous book, The Fairy Caravan, but that title would have become too long. Both were published in the US in 1929 and 1932 but Sister Anne, unlike it's predecessor, was never later published in the UK. The author felt unable to illustrate the work herself, so this was carried out by Katherine Sturges (1890-1979), US writer and illustrator. This copy is the second issue of the first edition, having the frontispiece restored to its correct position from opposite p.7. A scarce title.