The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies

5C Beatrix Potter, F. Warne & Co. First or Second Printing. 1909.

Notes

Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies was published in 1909 and is a sequel of sorts to her earlier, much-loved The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902). It features the next generation of rabbits: the children of Benjamin Bunny and Flopsy, Peter Rabbit’s sister. The story revisits familiar settings and characters, but with a gentler, slightly more whimsical tone than the original.

In the tale, the Flopsy Bunnies fall asleep in Mr. McGregor’s garden after eating too much overgrown lettuce—Potter humorously notes that lettuce has a soporific effect. Mr. McGregor finds them napping and captures them in a sack, intending to use their fur. However, with the help of Thomasina Tittlemouse, a tidy little wood mouse, Flopsy and Benjamin outwit Mr. McGregor and rescue their children, replacing them in the sack with rotten vegetables.

Though less mischievous and dramatic than Peter Rabbit, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies is rich in charm and quiet humor. Potter’s illustrations are especially lush and detailed, capturing the overgrown garden and its tiny inhabitants with her trademark delicacy. The book also shows her growing fondness for naturalistic storytelling, with gentle pacing and a deeper focus on the animals’ personalities and environment.

Description

Green cloth bound boards with  inlaid paper illustration on upper board and white lettering on upper board and spine. First or second printing with date on the title page, dots in the “O”’s on cover. Also has noticeboard present on Pg. 14 and no bird on Pg. 86 which were changed in the third impression.