P L Travers – Mary Poppins – First US Edition 1934

Description

First US edition, first printing of Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, published by Reynal & Hitchcock in New York, 1934. This is a very good copy. The dust wrapper, profusely illustrated by the daughter of E.H. Shepard, Mary, is highly presentable. There are some mild creases to the edges and at the spine tips. It has not been price clipped, showing the original $1.50 net price – rear flap has been clipped. There is a small closed tear to the front panel, which has been internally repaired, as has a minor chip to the top of the rear panel. The spine is slightly toned. The boards, with the frontal motif of the title character, are so slightly bowed, though do not lean when standing. The corners are markedly sharp, though the front (top) right-hand is bumped. The spine tips are also slightly bumped, the tail notably so. The hinges are tight and intact. The front fly is slightly toned, as are further preliminaries. There is a small previous owner’s inscription to the front endpaper. The text blocks are mostly clean, though slightly soiled at the top edge. Full rich red topstain to the top edge. They are free from foxing. Overall, this is a near fine copy of the scarce blue-cover of this title. A rare copy.

The first title in the Mary Poppins series. The books centre on the magical English nanny Mary Poppins, who is blown by the East wind to Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, and into the Banks’ household to care for their children. Encounters with pavement-painters and shopkeepers, and various adventures ensue, until Mary Poppins abruptly leaves, i.e., “pops out”. Only the first three of the eight books feature Mary Poppins arriving and leaving. The later five books recount previously unrecorded adventures from her original three visits. As Travers explains in her introduction to Mary Poppins in the Park, “She cannot forever arrive and depart.”