Tom Thumb
pcb2397
TITLE
Tom Thumb.
PUBLISHED
London : George Routledge & Co., [1854].
SERIES
PRICE
6d.
AUTHOR
DESCRIPTION
Size
25x17,5 cm
Format and pagination
8° : 8 ll.
Signatures
A8
Signatures note
1 gathering, sewn, paginated 1-8
Contents
1-8, text and wood-engraved vignettes
Illustrations
8 illustrations, unsigned, printed in black and hand-coloured
Source for attribution
Statement on the title page of the collective volume Aunt Mavor's nursery tales for good little people, gathering all the series' titles: "With one hundred coloured illustrations by Alfred Crowquill" (see 2006 Masaki, I.375ff.)
Drawings (illustrator)
Source for date
Documents state first edition in November 1854 and a reissue in March 1855 with a total of 4000 copies
Listed in Routledge's wholesale catalogue of November 1855 as no. 2 of Aunt Mavor's picture books for little readers, second series
Advertisements
25x17,5 cm
Format and pagination
8° : 8 ll.
Signatures
A8
Signatures note
1 gathering, sewn, paginated 1-8
Contents
1-8, text and wood-engraved vignettes
Illustrations
8 illustrations, unsigned, printed in black and hand-coloured
Source for attribution
Statement on the title page of the collective volume Aunt Mavor's nursery tales for good little people, gathering all the series' titles: "With one hundred coloured illustrations by Alfred Crowquill" (see 2006 Masaki, I.375ff.)
Drawings (illustrator)
Source for date
Documents state first edition in November 1854 and a reissue in March 1855 with a total of 4000 copies
Listed in Routledge's wholesale catalogue of November 1855 as no. 2 of Aunt Mavor's picture books for little readers, second series
Advertisements
NOTES
Printed on one side of the sheet only; first and last page pasted to upper and lower wrappers
Title and publication information from upper wrapper, which serves as title page, and from lower wrapper publishers' advertisements
Title and publication information from upper wrapper, which serves as title page, and from lower wrapper publishers' advertisements
PRINTING TECHNIQUES
ADVERTISEMENTS
Publishers' Circular (December 17, 1855)
VARIANTS
Variant A
[1854]: upper wrapper uniform for the series (see pcb2395), on greenish blue paper; specific for this title: "[fancy] TOM THUMB."; lower wrapper uniform for the series (see pcb2395)
Variant B
[1855]: upper wrapper uniform for the series, printed in black on pinkish paper; same as variant A, but plain title "[plain] TOM THUMB."; 1855 lower wrapper as pcb2275, variant D, on pinkish paper; at foot, inside the decorated frame: "LONDON: | GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. | NEW YORK: 18, BEEKMAN STREET."; note that Routledge's New York address was in use after May 1854 but the thirteen titles of Routledge's new series of sixpenny juvenile books were published in May 1855 (Publishers' Circular (May 15, 1855): 188)
[1854]: upper wrapper uniform for the series (see pcb2395), on greenish blue paper; specific for this title: "[fancy] TOM THUMB."; lower wrapper uniform for the series (see pcb2395)
Variant B
[1855]: upper wrapper uniform for the series, printed in black on pinkish paper; same as variant A, but plain title "[plain] TOM THUMB."; 1855 lower wrapper as pcb2275, variant D, on pinkish paper; at foot, inside the decorated frame: "LONDON: | GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. | NEW YORK: 18, BEEKMAN STREET."; note that Routledge's New York address was in use after May 1854 but the thirteen titles of Routledge's new series of sixpenny juvenile books were published in May 1855 (Publishers' Circular (May 15, 1855): 188)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
COPIES
BL: 12806.g.55(2) (variant A: [1854]; accession stamp dated 17AP55; bound with other titles of the series, second title)
NLS: Mas.437(10) (variant B: [1855]; bound with other titles, tenth title)
NLS: Mas.437(10) (variant B: [1855]; bound with other titles, tenth title)
DRAWINGS, OBJECTS, DOCUMENTS
Drawings
Sotheby: English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations, 09/07/2019, lot no. 246 (32 ink on paper drawings on 16 sheets for Tom Thumb, The dog's dinner party, Puss in Boots and Butterfly's ball, and Grasshopper's feast, unsigned and undated)
Documents
UCL-RKP: RKP 8 (p. 127: "Aunt Mavor 2nd series 12 books [sic] 1854 Nov. 3, 1st edition 2000. 1855 March 13, 2nd edition 2000")
Sotheby: English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations, 09/07/2019, lot no. 246 (32 ink on paper drawings on 16 sheets for Tom Thumb, The dog's dinner party, Puss in Boots and Butterfly's ball, and Grasshopper's feast, unsigned and undated)
Documents
UCL-RKP: RKP 8 (p. 127: "Aunt Mavor 2nd series 12 books [sic] 1854 Nov. 3, 1st edition 2000. 1855 March 13, 2nd edition 2000")
OTHER VERSIONS
PERMALINK
CITATION
Francesca Tancini, "Tom Thumb". In PiCoBoo, accessed July 11, 2025, https://www.picoboo.eu/catalogue/pcb2397