Charlotte's Web (Early printing)

An attractive early example of one of the true classics of American children's literature, complete with its original illustrated dust jacket.

E. B. White (1899–1985) published Charlotte's Web in 1952 and it has gone on to become one of the most beloved and enduringly popular works of American children's literature ever written. The novel follows Wilbur, a runt pig saved from slaughter by a young girl named Fern, and his friendship with Charlotte, a barn spider who sets out to save Wilbur's life a second time by weaving words of praise into her web, convincing the farm's human observers that Wilbur is a miraculous animal. White's unsentimental yet deeply moving treatment of mortality, friendship, and the passing of seasons has earned the book a critical and popular reputation matched by very few works in the genre; it was named a Newbery Honor Book in 1953 and has sold tens of millions of copies in dozens of languages in the decades since.

Garth Williams (1912–1996), whose gentle, warm illustrations appear throughout, was among the most significant American children's book illustrators of the twentieth century, also responsible for the enduring imagery of Stuart Little and the "Little House" series among many others; his work for Charlotte's Web remains inseparable from how generations of readers have pictured Wilbur, Charlotte, and the Zuckerman barn.

Small 8vo. Original pictorial hardcover boards. Original matching pictorial dust jacket, price-clipped. 184 pp. Illustrations throughout by Garth Williams. Early Harper & Row printing, datable on internal evidence to shortly after the 1962 merger of Harper & Brothers with Row, Peterson & Company, and before 1 July 1963 (the address on the copyright page reads "New York 16, N.Y.," using the pre-ZIP postal zone system rather than a ZIP code). No "First Edition" statement or printing code present on the copyright page, confirming this postdates the true October 1952 first printing. Dust jacket slightly soiled to outer faces and a little worn along edges, spine a bit browned. Binding sound, hardcover boards clean and well preserved. Contents very good. Some foxing along edges of text block. Clean and bright throughout internal contents. Bookplate to title verso. A very good copy.

This book is currently not on display in store. If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au

Catalogue Number: HH000780