Books

Illustrated by Mary Shepard and Agnes Sims. First edition, first printing. Inscribed by Travers on front free endpaper: "A walking stick for Judith Roy / P. L. Travers / October 1962." Publisher's tan cloth, front board and spine stamped in black, white and black pictorial endpapers; in its original blue dust jacket, lettered in black, with wraparound illustration of a floating Mary Poppins and a waving crowd. Very good book, with light paperclip outline to top of front board, mild rubbing to spine ends, corners lightly bumped, a small patch of offsetting to front endpapers, Judith Roy ownership signature to front free endpaper, Judith Roy bookplate to front free endpaper verso, and light thumbsoiling to front free endpaper verso, half-title page, and text block fore-edge; very good unclipped dust jacket, with a touch of soiling to front panel, light toning to spine, some chipping to spine ends ("Hitchcock" missing from foot of spine), a small chip and some creasing to bottom edge of front panel, some chipping to top edge of front panel and corners, some splitting to top and bottom of front flap fold, and light rubbing to front flap fold. Overall, a very nice signed copy of an early title in the Mary Poppins series. Mary Poppins Opens the Door is the third entry in P. L. Travers' beloved eight-volume Mary Poppins series. In this volume, Mary Poppins falls from the sky and rejoins the Banks family as the children's nanny, picking up where she left off. She takes the children on a series of magical adventures where they meet Mary's piano tuning cousin, Mr. Twigley, witness a park statue of the mythological figure Neleus come to life, and visit Miss Calico and her flying peppermint sticks. Notably, this is the third and last book in the series that recounts a new visit by Poppins to the Banks household - the subsequent five books tell of events that occurred during her previous three visits. Note: Travers' inscription in this copy is likely a reference to the walking stick-like illustrations of peppermint sticks on the endpapers.

Mary Poppins is a beloved children's book written by P.L. Travers, first published in 1934. The story introduces the mysterious and magical English nanny Mary Poppins, who is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, London, and into the Banks family's home, where she embarks on a series of fantastical adventures with the Banks children.