Background:

These delightful prints are from an early edition of Beatrix Potter's Tale of Samuel Whiskers, and present the story of Tom Kitten who was nearly made into a roly-poly pudding by some aggressive rats.  The story takes place in a farmhouse, patterned after Potter's "Hill Top" homestead.  As a child, Potter had a tame white rat as a pet, who she named "Sammy", and to whom this book is dedicated.