A Story for Children and for Those Who Love Children
Heidi A Story for Children and for Those Who Love Children
Perthes, Gotha for W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1882.
First English edition. Two volumes. 8vo. Each in publisher's pictorial cloth with gilt lettering and embossed decoration in gilt and black. All edges gilt. 288pp and 208pp. Engraved frontispiece and 2 further plates to volume one and 4 engraved plates to volume two. A handsome set in very good condition. There is some light rubbing to the cloth at the extremities and a 2 cm spilt to the upper joint of volume one. Nonetheless, the cloth is bright, clean and attractive. Internally the hinges are tight and contents generally clean, with some sporadic foxing and a short marginal tear to the upper section of page 89 (vol. one). Early 20th century gift inscription to volume one.
Johanna Spyri began writing as a hobby, having her first story published pseudonymously in 1871. Throughout the 1870s she published several stories for adults and children based around her own reminiscences growing up in Hirzel in rural Switzerland. Success came in 1880 with "Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre", the story of an orphan girl growing up in the Alps, published by Perthes of Gotha, Germany. The book was an instant success and Spyri followed it up with a sequel in 1881. Gotha issued the stories in England through Swann Sonnenschein (noted by The Westminster Review in 1883 as published in 1882), and in America as a single volume in 1884, as the demand for the book increased. The book was a considerable success throughout the end of the nineteenth century, assuring Spyri's financial future following the death of her husband in 1884. With a succession of different editions and film and television adaptations, it can now be considered one of the cornerstones of children's literature.
The first English edition is a great rarity, with very copies even in institutional libraries.
Stock ID: 25230
Sold
We have sold this item, but similar items
may become available in the future
