Ben and Me
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. Very good. Item #24666 .
8vo. Printed cloth boards. Pictorial endpapers. Illustrated throughout by the author. Mild soil and corner wear else a very good copy. The dustwrapper has some chips along the top and at the base of the spine else it is in very good condition. It is not price-clipped and is in the first state.
Lawson's first book, though he previously illustrated Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.
Inscribed by Robert Lawson on the half title 'To Marcella Burns Hahner with gratitude, admiration and Amos' . Marcella Burns Hahner, was the legendary book buyer and manager who transformed the book section of Marshall Field into a major superstore. She frequently featured Lawson's books in her store displays, which helped Amos, Ben Franklin's mouse, secure a permanent spot in American children's literature. Was she somehow the inspiration for Amos? Copies of this title signed are very scarce; inscriptions are downright rare.
Price: $1,500.00