Kay Thompson’s Eloise — First Reprint of the First UK Edition, 1957

THOMPSON, Kay; KNIGHT, Hilary (illustrator).
Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups.
London: Max Reinhardt Limited, 1957. First reprint of the first UK edition, published in the same year. Quarto. Illustrated throughout by Hilary Knight. Original publisher’s boards in the illustrated dustwrapper.

Description

An attractive early British edition of Kay Thompson’s celebrated Eloise, the story of the irrepressible six-year-old who lives at New York’s Plaza Hotel, illustrated throughout with Hilary Knight’s distinctive drawings.

This is the first reprint of the first UK edition, both the first British publication and this reprint appearing in 1957. The copyright page states: “First published in England 1957 / Reprinted 1957”, with publication by Max Reinhardt Limited, 10 Earlham Street, London WC2.

Thompson’s sharply observed text and Knight’s energetic line drawings established Eloise as one of the most recognisable figures in post-war American children’s literature and illustration. Although famously presented as “A Book for Precocious Grown Ups”, the book’s combination of sophisticated humour, Manhattan glamour and a child’s anarchic view of adult life gave it an appeal well beyond a conventional children’s readership. The setting at the Plaza Hotel, Fifth Avenue, New York, became inseparable from the character herself.

The striking dustwrapper reproduces Knight’s celebrated design of Eloise standing on a chair and writing her name across a mirror, with the front-panel legend “A book for precocious grownups, about a little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel”. The rear panel carries photographic portraits and biographical notes for both Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight.

A particularly appealing example of an early UK printing of one of the defining illustrated children’s books of the 1950s, retaining its original and highly distinctive dustwrapper.

Condition

Near fine in a very good dustwrapper. The boards are bright and clean. Internally very well preserved, with only occasional very slight foxing to the pages. The original dustwrapper shows foxing, particularly to the rear panel, together with minor signs of age, but remains complete, bright and very presentable.

Bibliographical Details

Author: Kay Thompson
Illustrator: Hilary Knight
Title: Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups
Publisher: Max Reinhardt Limited
Place of Publication: London
Date: 1957
Edition: First reprint of the first UK edition, issued in the same year as the first British printing
Format: Quarto
Illustration: Illustrated throughout by Hilary Knight
Binding: Original publisher’s boards
Dustwrapper: Original illustrated dustwrapper
Condition: Near fine in very good dustwrapper

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