Mysterious Book about a Cat by a Fictitious Black Teenage Author

Hattie Brown [William James Linton] 

Catoninetales

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1891.  First edition. A first edition of this adventurous tale of the nine lives of a cat, written in verse. In Nine Fyttes. Hand-numbered, 6 of 35 copies on Japanese vellum. 3/4 tan morocco over marbled boards. Written by William James Linton under the pseudonym of Hattie Brown, A young lady of colour lately deceased at the age of 14. William James Linton (December 7, 1812 - December 29, 1897) was an English-born American wood engraver, landscape painter, political reformer and author of memoirs, novels, poetry and non-fiction. With illustrated title page and a number of further small illustrations by the author.