THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO by Bannerman Helen - 1899

London: Grant Richards, 1899. Rare First Edition. Illustrated in color throughout with twenty-seven full-page illustrations by the author, engraved on wood and color-printed by Edmund Evans. 16mo, publisher’s original light green cloth lettered and decorated in dark green, the upper cover and spine with ruled borders and vertical stripes and author and title printed in compartments. Morocco backed clamshell box with the spine printing in gilt. viii, 57, [1, blank], [1, printer’s imprint], [1, blank] A very nice copy, light aging and touch-ups to the binding, a very well preserved copy with little evident wear, corners, head and tail all in very nice condition, the textblock clean and tight. IMPORTANT AND RARE FIRST EDITION AND A VERY WELL PRESERVED COPY OF THIS CHILDREN’S CLASSIC. Bannerman wrote her stories to entertain her own children. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO was their favorite. The author never intended the book for publication, but through the encouragement of her children and friends the manuscript was shown to E.V. Lucas who agreed to publish it as the fourth title in his series of ‘The Dumpy Books for Children’” (Schiller, p. 381)
Together with Beatrix Potter, Helen Bannerman established the genre of children’s books that gave pictures and text equal importance. Very few copies of the original printing have survived, and of the copies known, most have been badly worn because the small book was unable to withstand the constant handling of children. “Should a census eventually be attempted, there would probably be fewer copies located than of the notoriously rare and suppressed 1865 Alice” (Schiller, p. 386)