Perkin the Pedlar 1932 First Edition by Eleanor Farjeon illustrated by Clare Leighton - abcedarian - children's stories - English towns

Title: Perkin the Pedlar

Author: Eleanor Farjeon
Illustrator: Clare Leighton

Description: First Edition (1932). Pictorial cloth boards (white, blue and turquoise). Very faint soiling to boards. Brief gift inscription on ffep. Bit of foxing to front and end-matter. Small smudge spot on title page. One leaf has a short (1.5cm) closed tear. Dust jacket rubbed; chip at head of spine; small chipping at tail of spine and corners; not price clipped (6s. net.). DJ in clear archival sleeve. Illustrations throughout by Clare Leighton; Eight color plates, including frontispiece. 205, [1] pp. 9 x 6.5 inches.

In the English village of Zeal Monachorum (Devonshire) there were twenty-six children, all very learned and clever, but who could not recite their abc's. That is, until Perkin the Pedlar, footsore from wandering all over Britain, tells the kids the how and why twenty-six places got their name: Appledore, Blower's Green, Chipping Norton, Downderry, Edenbridge, etc. Perkin gives each locale its own story and an accompanying poem; each has its county name noted (from Cornwall and Glamorgan to Lanarkshire).

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Following her death, the Eleanor Farjeon Award was established by the Children's Book Circle for outstanding contributions to the world of British children's books.

Clare Leighton (1898-1989) was an English illustrator, well known for her wood engravings, and the first woman to produce a book on this technique.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Jacket Condition: Very Good

Publisher: Faber and Faber Limited
Place: London
Year: 1932

Keywords: Clare Leighton, peddler, abcdedarian, abecedarian, abcdarian, children's, geography, British,