WALTER POTTER'S CURIOUS WORLD OF TAXIDERMY. By Dr. Pat Morris with Joanna Ebenstein.

(2008) 2014 1st US edition. Square 4to (222 x 235mm). Ppxii,132. Colour photographs throughout. Pictorial laminated boards, issued without a dust-wrapper.

An attractive new American edition of Walter Potter and his Museum of Curious Taxidermy, first published privately by the author in 2008. Walter Potter (1835-1918) was a country taxidermist of no great expertise, but he and the little museum he created became famous as an icon of Victorian whimsy. He created a fantasy world in taxidermy, where rabbits went to school, kittens played croquet and squirrels drank port in their smart club. These tableaux included his recreation of the Death and Burial of Cock Robin, probably the most famous item of Victorian taxidermy. His tiny museum in Bramber, Sussex, was crammed full of taxidermy, including multi-legged kittens, two-headed lambs and a bewildering assortment of general curios. The museum was moved to other sites, ending up at Jamaica Inn in Cornwall, where it was finally sold and dispersed in 2003. This book tells what little is known about Potter and documents the history of his museum, as well as providing a permanent record of the collection.