The Story of Ferdinand

LEAF, Munro. The Story of Ferdinand. Drawings by Robert Lawson. NY: Viking Press, 1936. 8vo, [72]pp. Beige quarter-cloth stamped in red with color pictorial boards. Pictorial endpapers on yellow sheets; b&w illustrations throughout. Edges rubbed, fading to edges of boards, spine sunned, large tear mended with cello-tape on pages 43/44. Nevertheless a complete copy of this rare book in original color pictorial dust jacket (sunned at spine and edges of front and rear panels, light wear and chipping upper and lower edges, price-clipped).

First edition. The classic tale of a bull who would rather smell the flowers than fight in bullfights. Leaf’s charmingly simple text and Lawson’s engrossing pen-and-ink drawings have cemented this delightful book as a modern classic that has been enjoyed by generation after generation. The basis for the classic Disney short and the disastrous recent film.