Pedro. With Illustrations by Karl Larsson
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940. 1st Edition. Small quarto, publisher’s blue cloth, spine and upper board stamped in red, illustrated terracotta endpapers, original illustrated dust jacket.
First edition of Majorie Flack and Karl Larsson’s chapter book for children depicting midcentury Mexican life and customs. Based on a boy Larsson met while spending time in Mexico, the story revolves around Pedro, a houseboy living with a wealthy American family. The book is demonstrative of progressive political views shared by many American writers, illustrators, and publishers of children’s literature that was particularly palpable between 1930 and 1960. Illustrated with several lithographic color plates, including a frontispiece portrait of the real-life Pedro (reproduced on the dust jacket), and numerous sepia in-text vignettes. Some edgewear and sunning to unclipped dust jacket. Very good. Item #5623
$50.00