Books

1906. First Edition. Signed. (RACKHAM, Arthur) BARRIE, J.M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906. Quarto, original full pictorial vellum gilt, cartographic front endpaper, top edge gilt, uncut. Housed in a custom slipcase. $15,000.Signed limited first separate edition, number 476 of only 500 copies signed by Rackham, with 50 mounted color illustrations.Peter Pan wasn't always the boy from Never Land who lost his shadow and fought Captain Hook. The character's first name ""came from Peter Llewelyn Davies, who when still a baby became the subject of stories told by Barrie to [Peter's older brothers]. According to these stories Peter, like all babies, had once been a bird and could still fly out of his nursery window and back to Kensington Gardens, because his mother had forgotten to weigh him at birth. From these stories came the 'Peter Pan' chapters in The Little White Bird [published 1902], afterwards re-issued with Arthur Rackham illustrations as Peter…

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is one of J.M. Barrie's works that features the character Peter Pan, offering a backstory to the beloved 'boy who wouldn't grow up.' Originally part of Barrie's book 'The Little White Bird' (1902), these chapters were later republished as a stand-alone story detailing Peter's adventures in London's famous Kensington Gardens. It's a tale of fantasy that explores themes of childhood innocence and escapism.

Identify by its cover, publisher, and the date stated inside, as ISBNs were not used at the time.