POTTER, Beatrix (1866-1943). The Tale of Two Bad Mice. London: Frederick Warne, 1904.

First edition, the Noël C. Moore copy in original glassine dust jacket. Noël Moore was the child for whom Beatrix Potter wrote Peter Rabbit. The Linder collection in the Victoria & Albert Museum contains a number of books owned by members of the Moore family; however, none of these is identified as having been Noël’s. For example, the V&A owns a copy of the privately printed first issue of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, describing it as “worn to state of loose sections only; copy belonging to the Moore family, not inscribed” (V&A no. 1639). It is likely that the Noël Moore copies which appear on the market (most notably in the collection of Doris Frohnsdorff sold in 1997) were assembled by Noël when he was a young man. Linder, p. 424; Quinby 7.

12mo. Color frontispiece and 26 color plates by Beatrix Potter. Original gray boards, pictorial cover label, pictorial endpapers; printed glassine dust jacket (chipped with losses at spine panel, some longer closed tears). Provenance: Noël Moore (ownership signature to half-title).