First illustrated edition of one of T. S. Eliot’s most famous works. Eliot (1888-1965) was an American born English playwright, poet and literary figure. He first wrote ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ a book of light verse in 1930. ‘Old Possum’ was Ezra Pound’s nickname for Eliot. In 1954 six of the poems were taken up by Alan Rawsthorne who set them for an orchestra. This was the basis on which Andrew Lloyd Webber later wrote the musical ‘Cats’. The pictorial inlay is of two dancing cats taken from ‘The Song of the Jellicles’. A charming work. Claire Necker ‘Four Centuries of Cat Books: A Bibliography, 1570-1970’ no. 641b; Quayle: Early Children’s Books p.128-9.