TRAVERS, P.L. (author). Mary SHEPARD (illustrator). Mary Poppins In the Park. London Peter Davies. 1952

8vo. Original brown cloth lettered and decorated in yellow to spine with a vignette in blind to upper board, yellow pictorial endpapers, in pictorial dustwrapper, all designed by Mary Shepard; pp. [vi], 7-212; illustrated throughout in line; a fine copy in an unusually crisp, unclipped, dustwrapper, priced 9s. 6d., with overall light dusting and a vertical strip of browning to upper panel.

First U.K. edition. This title is the fourth in the series about everybody’s favourite magical nanny, following “Mary Poppins” (George Newnes, 1923); “Mary Poppins Comes Back” (L. Dickson & Thompson Ltd., 1935) and Mary Poppins Opens the Door (Peter Davies, 1943).

The series’ lasting success must be somewhat attributed to the Disney musical film, released in 1964, which is ironic considering that the author turned down the film producer’s impassioned attempts to secure the rights for over twenty years. Disputes continued and Travers initially did not receive an invitation to the film’s première, she disapproved of the saccharine transformation of her heroine, was unconvinced by the music, and detested the animation sequence.