1860 Rare First Edition-The Nine Lives of a Cat, illustrated by Charles Bennett
Title: The Nine Lives of a Cat: A Tale of Wonder.
Publisher: London, Griffith and Farran, Corner of St. Paul’s Churchyard, 1860. First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5" X 5.5".
Pages:[3], 21 leaves, printed on one side only; 16 pages of publisher's catalogue at the end.
Binding: Attractive and good publisher’s original green pebbled cloth, richly decorated in blind with a striking gilt vignette of a cat to the upper cover and gilt title to the spine (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown, spine worn - as shown) under a protective, removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, some light foxing and toning - as shown, charming contemporary gift inscription to the front blank: “Master Robert Strover, Xmas 1860” - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the frontispiece, illustrated title page, and 21 other wonderful cat illustrations by Charles Henry Bennett.
Estimate: (USD 450 - USD 500)
The book: First published in 1860, The Nine Lives of a Cat. A Tale of Wonder is one of Charles Bennett’s most imaginative and playful Victorian picture books. Told in rhythmic verse and accompanied by his wonderfully animated drawings, the book recounts — with wit, mischief, and macabre humour — the legendary “nine lives” of a daring and resourceful cat who repeatedly escapes disaster by ingenuity, luck, or sheer feline resilience.
Bennett’s clever integration of image and text, with rope-like borders, visual puns, and theatrical compositions, gives the book a distinctive narrative charm and makes it a delightful example of mid-19th-century British children’s illustration and storytelling.
The author and illustrator: Charles Bennett (1828–1867) was a gifted Victorian illustrator, caricaturist, and humorist, best known for his imaginative and often satirical illustrated books for children. A contributor to Punch magazine, Bennett brought to his work a lively sense of character and movement, blending fantasy, wit, and social observation. His books — including Shadows and The Nine Lives of a Cat — are today admired both as treasures of Victorian book art and as early milestones in the evolution of narrative illustration.