Having been coaxed out of retirement by publisher and admirer, David Mackay of Philadelphia, Beatrix Potter decided to write a book specifically for the American market, drawing on her friends and the surroundings of her native Ambleside. Both were thinly disguised, the humans, of course, appearing as animals. Uniquely to these hundred copies, in place of the 18pp. preface for American readers, she inserted an unpublished story, 'The Tale of Tuppenny', written at her peak in 1903, and produced six new drawings. She approached local printer George Middleton for the job of binding her adapted sets of sheets, including the new story. This is Middleton's copy, with the printing blocks for her illustrations, unseen since publication of this limited edition.

In order for her friends to be able to identify the disguised characters and background for the book, Beatrix Potter wrote a key (her 'Explains'). See Linder pp. 206-305.

Provenance: Middleton's Printing Works, Ambleside.