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Published: n.d. (c1904). First Edition. DESCRIPTION: Blue cloth with red, blue and gilt illustration and titles to front and spine. Illustrated by R.H. Millar. Language: English. Book Condition: Good: Wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Tightly bound with lightly toned intact endpapers and strong hinges. Light spotting to front and rear pages with occasional spots and marks to other pages. Missing pages to front. Present pages are ffep, title page and dedication page followed by page 1. No colour frontis. DJ Condition: No DJ Pages 236. Size: 22cm by 14cm. AUTHOR: Edith Nesbit(Edith Bland; 1858 - 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published herbooks for childrenasE. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. A political activist and co-founder of theFabian Society, asocialistorganisation later affiliated to theLabour Party. Born in Kennington, Surrey, daughter of an agricultural chemist,John Collis Nesbit and Sarah Green (née Alderton). In 1877, at the age of 18, Nesbit met the bank clerkHubert Bland, and at seven months pregnant, she married Bland on 22 April 1880. Their marriage was tumultuous. In 1886, when she discovered that her friend,Alice Hoatson, was pregnant by him. She had previously agreed to adopt Hoatsons child and allow Hoatson to live with her as their housekeeper. After she discovered the truth, she suggested that Hoatson and the baby,Rosamund, should leave; her husband threatened to leave Edith. Hoatson remained with them as a housekeeper and secretary and became pregnant by Bland again 13 years later. Edith again adopted Hoatsons child, John. Nesbit admired the artist andMarxiansocialistWilliam Morris. The couple joined the founders of theFabian Societyin 1884,and jointly edited its journalToday. Nesbit was a prolific lecturer and writer on socialism in the 1880s. She and her husband co-wrote under the pseudonym "Fabian Bland". She was a guest speaker at theLondon School of Economics, which had been founded by other Fabian Society members. On 20 February 1917, some three years after Bland died, Nesbit married Thomas "the Skipper" Tucker inWoolwich, where he was captain of theWoolwich Ferry. Towards the end of her life, Nesbit moved first to Crowlink. Nesbit died in 1924. Nesbits biographer, Julia Briggs, credits Nesbit with inventing the childrensadventure story. The creator of modernchildrens fantasy, she influenced many later writers, includingP. L. Travers(ofMary Poppins),J. K. Rowling and C. S. Lewiswho paid heed to her in theNarniaseriesand mentions the Bastable children inThe Magicians Nephew. Nesbit also wrote for adults, including eleven novels, short stories, and four collections of horror stories. BOOK RESUME: The Phoenix and the Carpet is a fantasy novel for children, written by E. Nesbit and first published in 1904. It is the second in a trilogy of novels that begins with Five Children and It (1902), and follows the adventures of the same five children: Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and the Lamb. Their mother buys the children a new carpet to replace one from the nursery that they have destroyed in an accidental fire. The children find an egg in the carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix explains that the carpet is a magic one that will grant them three wishes a day. The five children go on many adventures, which eventually wear out their magic carpet. The adventures are continued and concluded in the third book of the trilogy, The Story of the Amulet (1906).
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