Description:

Rey H. A. 1898 - 1977 Author and illustrator H. A. Rey signs and inscribesCurious George Rides a Bikewith a rare original drawing of a bicycle — a superb association piece that recalls his escape from the Nazis while riding a home-made bike in 1940!
His signature and inscription, "For the Donovan children from their old friend H. A. Rey with love! July 28, 1966" above his original drawing of his title character, Curious George, riding a bicycle, accomplished on the verso of the front endpaper of his book, Curious George Rides a Bike (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1952), [48] pp., 4to. Later edition, bound in publisher's full yellow cloth, front board stamped in red. Some rubbing to binding, front upper corner bumped, hinges stressed and a bit offset.



A remarkable association piece in light of the circumstances of the author's escape from Paris in 1940 just prior to the German occupation. A German Jew, Rey (born Hans Augusto Reyersbach) was residing in Montmartre with his wife Margaret when the Germans invaded in the spring of 1940. Only days before the Nazis overran the city, Hans assembled two bicycles by hand, and the couple pedaled to Bayonne where they were able to obtain a visa that allowed them to cross the Spanish border. From there, they travelled to Lisbon and then on to Brazil, where they had originally met in the early 1930s. From Brazil they continued onto New York, all the while carrying the original manuscript and art for Curious George, which Houghton-Mifflin published in 1941.


While signed and inscribed copies of Rey's iconic children's books appear with some degree of frequency, we rarely encounter examples bearing original drawings.

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