Or the Nursery Parnassus, 1810

[RITSON, Joseph (editor, 1752-1803) & DOUCE, Francis (compiler, 1757-1834). Gammer Gurton's Garland: or, the Nursery Parnassus. London: Harding and Wright, 1810.

First complete collected edition, the earliest known printing of “Humpty Dumpty” and “Little Bo-peep.” Parts I and II of this edition were collected by the antiquarian and pioneering animal rights activist Joseph Ritson, who is best known for editing one of the first official collections of Robin Hood ballads in 1795. Parts III and IV were taken from fellow antiquarian and museum curator Francis Douce’s MS annotations in his personal copy of the 1784 edition of Garlands, and generally maintain the rhyme scheme from the earlier parts. This 1810 collection expands on the earlier edition by including some of the most famous nursery rhymes like, “Humpty Dumpty” and “Little Bo-peep” in the later parts. Opie, 30; Bronson, Joseph Ritson, Scholar-at-Arms, pp. 756-57.

16mo (180 x 115mm). (Light annotations in pencil on title and p. 5, final text leaf with a pale narrow dampstain near gutter). Modern straight-grained morocco, gilt-ruled, board edges gilt, all edges gilt. Provenance: University Club, New York (blindstamp on title).