Gumnut babies.

At head of title: ‘Words and pictures by May Gibbs’. Sydney : Angus & Robertson Ltd, [between 1917 and 1919]. Tall octavo (220 x 142 mm), publisher’s printed brown wrappers with pictorial onlay to front (some silverfishing), original ties; inside front wrapper with later ex libris, pp [28], first page with early gift inscription dated 1919, colour frontispiece, with 11 additional full page sepia illustrations; a good copy of the cheaper one shilling edition. Muir 2736.

May Gibbs’ charming and whimsical creations have become icons of Australian children’s literature. First published in 1916 as a 2/6d edition, Gumnut babies was reprinted as a smaller and cheaper edition, uniform with Gum blossom babies, eight times between 1917 and 1920: in 1917, 1918 (twice), 1919 (twice), 1920 (three times). ‘By the end of 1920 over thirty-two and a half thousand copies of this reprint had been sold’ (Muir).