The Peter Pan Alphabet

The Peter Pan Alphabet is a 1907 children’s gift book by Oliver Herford (1860-1935), the American humorist and illustrator, built as an A-to-Z of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, which had conquered the New York stage in 1905 with Maude Adams in the title role. Herford gives each letter a rhyme on a character or motif from the play, from Peter and Wendy through Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, and the Never Land, with his own illustrations throughout. The book rode the first wave of American Peter Pan enthusiasm and was issued for the Christmas gift market. It documents how quickly Barrie’s play passed into common childhood culture, and it shows Herford applying his gift-book formula to licensed popular material. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.