Antique Ornate Gilded Decorative Victorian Book 1880 QUEER PETS Marcy’s 1st Ed For Sale

By Olive Thorne Miller
E. P. Dutton & Co., New York
Copyright 1880 – First Edition

A scarce and wonderfully graphic first edition of Queer Pets at Marcy’s, written by pioneering American nature writer and ornithologist Olive Thorne Miller—the pen name of Harriet Mann Miller.

Published in New York by E. P. Dutton & Co. in 1880, this Victorian children’s natural-history book relates entertaining accounts of unusual animals and their behavior. Rather than presenting animals merely as curiosities, Miller gave them distinct personalities and used lively stories to encourage young readers to observe and understand the natural world.

The book is especially desirable for its extraordinary original publisher’s binding. The green cloth front cover is extensively decorated in black and gold, featuring a monkey perched in a flowering branch, a bear standing below and smaller animal scenes worked into the elaborate border. The pictorial spine carries matching decoration and remains unusually vivid for a children’s book nearly 150 years old.

Inside is an engraved frontispiece, an elaborate full-page pictorial title and numerous black-and-white illustrations throughout the text. The volume contains 326 numbered pages and measures approximately 8½ inches tall.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Olive Thorne Miller was the literary name of Harriet Mann Miller, an important early American nature writer, children’s author and ornithologist. She wrote engaging accounts of birds and other animals at a time when serious natural-history publishing was still overwhelmingly dominated by men.

Miller later became one of the first women elected to membership in the American Ornithologists’ Union. Her accessible, sympathetic writing helped introduce generations of young readers to careful observation of animals and the natural world.

EDITION AND PUBLICATION

• Title: Queer Pets at Marcy’s
• Author: Olive Thorne Miller
• Author’s full name: Harriet Mann Miller
• Publisher: E. P. Dutton & Co.
• Publication place: New York
• Copyright date: 1880
• Edition: First edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Binding: Original decorated green publisher’s cloth
• Pages: 326
• Language: English
• Subject: Animals, natural history and Victorian children’s literature

Institutional records date the original E. P. Dutton issue to 1880 and describe it as a 326-page illustrated volume approximately 21.5 cm tall. The work was later reissued under the expanded title Funny Friends; or, Queer Pets at Marcy’s, making this original-title issue especially appealing. HathiTrust catalog record, Biodiversity Heritage Library.

CONDITION

Good antique condition overall. The original green cloth remains bright and highly decorative, with strong black-and-gold imagery on the front and spine. Exterior shows rubbing, bumped and frayed corners, surface marks and wear with small cloth losses at the spine ends. Page edges are age-toned.

Interior pages display normal age toning with scattered light spotting, foxing and occasional marks. Illustrated frontispiece and pictorial title remain present. Binding is intact, and no loose or missing pages were observed during inspection. No dust jacket, as issued.

An uncommon and visually striking Victorian animal book—excellent for collectors of antique children’s literature, natural history, decorated publisher’s bindings, women naturalists or unusual animal imagery.

• Book Title: Queer Pets at Marcy’s
• Author: Olive Thorne Miller
• Publisher: E. P. Dutton & Co.
• Publication Year: 1880
• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: Hardcover
• Original Language: English
• Language: English
• Topic: Animals
• Genre: Children & Young Adults / Natural History
• Features: Illustrated
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Vintage: Yes
• Antique: Yes
• Signed: No
• Personalized: No
• Inscribed: No
• Ex Libris: No evidence observed
• Dust Jacket: No
• Number of Pages: 326

One small correction to my first look: the copyright page reads 1880, not 1888—the final zero is just printed in a typeface that enjoys causing trouble.