Leaf, Munro. THE STORY OF SIMPSON AND SAMPSON by Munro Leaf; illustrated by Robert Lawson. New York: The Viking Press, 1941. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING ("First Published October 1941" on title-page verso). 4to - 10-1/4" x 8-1/2". Red cloth covered boards with shield design blind-stamped on front cover and black lettering to spine for what is a magnificent copy of the book. Original publisher's red paper priced ($1.50) dust wrapper with decoration in black and white and lettering in white to front wrapper, and decoration and lettering in white to spine and back wrapper; minor wear to the top edge of front panel and to the head of spine, and a scrape on the front panel, just to the left of the author's name, and two tiny spots of color loss resulting from that scrape for what is a really lovely copy of the dust wrapper. Red and white pictorial endpapers. [61] pp. Leaf's tale of two royal brothers who look exactly alike, but in all their actions have been polar opposites their entire lives; competition between the two brothers gets so intense that it eventually leads to a pointless dual. The dual stops because everyone is confused about which one is Simpson and which one is Sampson and which one of the two they really wanted to cheer for, etc.; in the end the brothers "called off the fight, and had a wonderful party instead, and everybody there had a very good time." The book is illustrated by Lawson with thirty wonderful full page black and white drawings. The condition of the book is FINE. The condition of the dust wrapper is NEAR FINE. SCARCE; especially in the dust wrapper and in such nice condition. # 000848