'a voyage of the artist's fancy'
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
Harrap, 1916.
First edition in publisher's deluxe limp suede binding. 4to. Purple suede with yapp edges, gilt lettering and blind stamped decoration. Top edge gilt. Sixteen tipped in colour plates and twenty-four full page black and white plates, plus numerous smaller black and white drawings. A very good copy, bright and attractive, with just light wear to the suede top of the spine. Lacks front free endpaper, there is occasional looseness between gatherings and some of the early pages have been carelessly opened. Plates are all fine and pages clean.
Clarke's first Gift Book and one of the rarest and most sought after books of this Golden Age period. "A new Irish artist" announced Harrap's large advertisement in the 1919 Bookman, "whose work will certainly command extreme admiration. Mr Clarke brings to Hans Andersen an entirely fresh interpretation and he appeals to the intellectual emotions of art lovers." Contemporary reviews made comment on the influence of Beardsley upon Clarke's illustration and it is true that the black and whites drawings are very reminiscent of the intricacy of Beardsley's work. Clarke, however, has a very distinctive style of his own which is most marked in his colour illustrations, some of which have a delicate colour palette and a distinctly Art Nouveau feel, while others use the deep, bold colours seen in the artist's stained glass designs. This deluxe binding is very uncommon, due to the nature of the soft suede which perishes easily and the fact that the book is slightly too heavy for its binding it rarely survives in original condition.
Stock ID: 46547
