Bluebeard: A Musical Fantasy. Inscribed by Kate Douglas Wiggin. First Edition, First Printing. Harper & Brothers. New York, 1914.

Kate Douglas Wiggin was an American author and composer who produced numerous children’s books in the late nineteenth century. Most are moral tales set in rural places. The most famous is probably Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Wiggin was also an educator who famously founded numerous kindergartens in California. Alongside those achievements, Wiggin was a noted musician and composer and a dedicated fan of classical music. In Bluebeard: A Musical Fantasy, these latter qualities are on full display. The work parodies lecture-recitals, a form of didactic performance wherein operas were interrupted or preceded by lectures that explained their content. Wiggin takes as her subject the purported discovery of a Richard Wagner opera of Bluebeard, the French folk story. This is a ruse, however, giving Wiggin the opportunity to satire the whole genre of lecture-recitals. The work reveals her true appreciation for classical music and opera as well as her sense of humor. It is a peculiar work, one that provides insight into the culture of American live performance during the period.

This first edition, first printing is inscribed by Wiggin on the front free endpaper. It is in very good condition. In the original blue cloth with gilt stamping, very good with soiling, rubbing, and fading. Text block about-fine, only some separation between gatherings and a former owner’s gift inscription on the front free endpaper. With printing code A-0.

A very good inscribed first edition by Kate Douglas Wiggin.