The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby.
KINGSLEY, Charles.
The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby.
First Edition of Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies
London and Cambridge: Macmillan and Co., 1863.
$975.00
In Stock
Item Number: 151121
First edition of this Victorian moral fantasy. Octavo, bound in three-quarter crushed levant over marbled boards with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, with two illustrations by J. Noel Paton. In near fine condition. Bookplates to the front pastedown and front free endpaper.
The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby (1863) is Charles Kingsley’s imaginative and morally charged fantasy about Tom, a mistreated chimney sweep who escapes his cruel master only to tumble into a river and awaken as a tiny “water-baby.” Beneath the surface, Tom enters a vibrant underwater world filled with strange creatures, talking animals, and formidable fairy figures who challenge him to confront his past behavior and grow into a kinder, braver version of himself. Blending adventure, humor, and pointed social commentary, the novel moves from dark realism to playful fantasy while quietly addressing child labor, cleanliness, personal responsibility, and even Victorian scientific debates.
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