The Story of the Three Bears (1967, first edition)
A facsimile edition of Eleanor Mure's 1831 original manuscript
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First edition. Hardback in dustwrapper. 12.5 × 16cm, unpaginated.
A full-colour facsimile publication of the earliest known written version of the fairy tale, created by Eleanor Mure in 1831. Published in association with the Toronto Public Library, it reproduces Mure’s original handmade manuscript held in the library's renowned Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books. This edition was originally created six years before Robert Southey’s 1837 prose version (long thought to be the story's origin), and Eleanor Mure wrote and illustrated the manuscript as a September 1831 birthday gift for her four-year-old nephew, Horace Broke.
The story of told in verse and is set in Mure's family home, Cecil Lodge in Hertfordshire. There is no Goldilocks, and instead the intruder is a prying and angry old woman who breaks in out of resentment after the polite bears refuse her visits. The bears attempt to burn the old woman, try to drown her, and ultimately impale her on the top of St. Paul's Cathedral!
Condition
This copy is in good plus condition. The dustwrapper sits a little shy of the boards' edges (top and bottom), light wear to the wrapper's edges, and it has been price-clipped. Previous owner's name to the ffep. The contents in good order.
As of July 2026, books remain duty-free. The price of the book incurs no extra US import fees.
Price
£20.00
