Peter Pan as you’ve never read it before
Written just over a century ago, Peter Pan has become one of the most beloved and timeless tales of all time. Since he appeared, the boy who didn’t want to grow up has ceaselesslyspread his magical wings over generations of readers, so much so that his name, like Frankenstein’s, has become more famous than that of the writer who created him: James M. Barrie, a renowned Scottish-born playwright based in London.
In 1897, while walking his dog, a Saint Bernard who inspired the character of Nana, in Kensington Park, Barrie met the Davies children and their mother Sylvia. This decisive encounter inspired a play, Peter Pan or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, which has enjoyed continued success since its first performance in 1904. Two years later, he wrote a short novel, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and, in 1911, a novel: Peter Pan and Wendy.
This book reproduces this novel’s previously unpublished 282-page manuscript. In a version restored by our team of specialised graphic designers, read the true story of Peter Pan. Barrie’s tight writing reveals several deletions and many textual variations: the boy with magical powers is even cheekier than in the published book.
In this book, 21 full-page illustrations from a rare edition published in 1930 feature the adventures of Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and the Darling children (Wendy, John and George). They are by the talented Gwynedd Hudson, whose childhood illustrations are particularly prized by bibliophiles.
SP Books is an independent publishing house founded in Paris in 2012. SP Books are committed to the preservation of literary heritage, venturing into the vaults of some of the world’s greatest libraries, institutions and private collections to unearth hidden literary treasures. The American-English collection started with Jane Eyre, The Great Gatsby, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Frankenstein