first edition
1946 · [New York]
by Brown, Margaret Wise; Williams, Garth
[New York]: Harper & Brothers, 1946. First printing. Very good plus in very good box.. First edition of this experimental little book bound in actual rabbit fur. Brown published LITTLE FUR FAMILY at a time when her editor at Harper, the magnificent Ursula Nordstrom, was looking for innovative ideas and novelty formats for children's books in response to the quickly expanding market of the post-WWII Baby Boom. This book began as a handmade production by Brown herself, a quaint production containing a miniature book tucked into real rabbit fur: a small, warm and fuzzy item for a child's bedside table. As a 2022 NEW YORKER Anna Holmes profile of Brown explained: "[Her] most aesthetically provocative book was also one of her most adorable: in 1946, she published 'Little Fur Family,' in collaboration with Garth Williams, who later illustrated E. B. White's 'Charlotte's Web.' For the first edition [...] Brown insisted that the book's cover be wrapped entirely in the fur of New Zealand rabbits. The result prompted one child to try to feed his dinner to his copy of the book and another to offer her copy to a pet kitten as a companion." (With credit to Anthony Tedeschi, Curator of Rare Books and Fine Printing at the Alexander Turnbull Library, for alerting us to this source.) The rather gruesome requirement was soon dropped, however, and later issues are bound in an imitation fur.
Brown's biographer Leonard Marcus has suggested the rabbit fur was inspired by the work of the Surrealist artist Méret Oppenheim, whose 1936 "Object (or Luncheon in Fur)," famously covered a teacup, saucer, and spoon with gazelle fur. This copy retains the original box, also illustrated by Williams, with a peek-a-book hole cut into the top so that the soft fur could be touched while still protected in the box. The fur tends to wear away from handling; this is a well-preserved copy. 3.25'' x 2'' (text block); 5.25'' x 3.75'' (box). Original rabbit-fur-covered boards, in original pictorial box with circular cut-out. Illustrated in color by Garth Williams. [28] pages. Some offsetting to leaves from rabbit fur, a few spots of soil to text. Box soiled and toned, lightly scuffed; a couple repairs and one reinforcement to lid. (Inventory #: 24747)
Brown's biographer Leonard Marcus has suggested the rabbit fur was inspired by the work of the Surrealist artist Méret Oppenheim, whose 1936 "Object (or Luncheon in Fur)," famously covered a teacup, saucer, and spoon with gazelle fur. This copy retains the original box, also illustrated by Williams, with a peek-a-book hole cut into the top so that the soft fur could be touched while still protected in the box. The fur tends to wear away from handling; this is a well-preserved copy. 3.25'' x 2'' (text block); 5.25'' x 3.75'' (box). Original rabbit-fur-covered boards, in original pictorial box with circular cut-out. Illustrated in color by Garth Williams. [28] pages. Some offsetting to leaves from rabbit fur, a few spots of soil to text. Box soiled and toned, lightly scuffed; a couple repairs and one reinforcement to lid. (Inventory #: 24747)