Little Lord Fauntleroy.

BURNETT, Frances Hodgson.

Item Number: 101659

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1886.

First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, bound in full morocco by Asprey & Garrard, elaborate gilt stamping to the spine and front panel, all edges gilt, inner dentelles. Illustrated with drawings by Reginald B. Birch. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.

First published as a serial in St. Nicholas Magazine (November 1885-October 1886), Burnett’s book “earned wide praise on its publication; enthusiastic reviewers included Louisa May Alcott, and among its English admirers was Gladstone” (Carpenter & Prichard, 316). “It is unfortunate that Cedric Fauntleroy, the charming American grandson of a crusty English earl, has been stereotyped as a sissy, for he is a charming and resourceful child. But his characteristic velvet suit with Vandyke collar, a fashion of the day, was forced upon many real-life boys [A.A. Milne among them] who then looked upon the novel with disfavor. Nonetheless, it became one of the best-selling books of all time on both sides of the Atlantic, and spawned dozens of theatrical and film interpretations” (Silvey, 106). BAL 2064. Pierpoint Morgan Library, Children’s Literature 244. Basis for a number of films, most notably the 1936 adaptation starring Freddie Bartholomew and the 1980 film starring Alec Guinness, Rick Schroder, Eric Porter, Connie Booth, Patrick Stewart, and John Welsh.