Leipsic: Friedrich Volckmar, 1848. 24 pages printed and hand-coloured on rectos only. Original printed paper-covered boards. Quarto. First English edition. Lacking blank free end-papers (if required); spine expertly restored; corners and edges of boards worn; some light soiling and staining; else a remarkably clean, fresh copy of this nursery classic. Originally published in Germany in 1845 as Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder, with only 15 pages, the book was expanded and renamed Struwwelpeter in 1847. Hoffmann instructed his publishers to issue the book in strong boards but with a frail paper spine, hoping that children would quickly read the book to pieces, and parents be forced to buy another copy; this accounts for the dearth of copies surviving in original boards. As with all genuine copies of the first edition, the government’s tax stamp appears on the upper board.