A Series of Pictures from the Elf-World with a Poem by William Allingham
one of the finest books ever produced for children
In Fairyland A Series of Pictures from the Elf-World with a Poem by William Allingham
Longmans, 1870.
First edition. Folio. Green cloth with gilt lettering and decoration to cover and spine. All edges gilt. Frontispiece and fifteen wood-engraved plates printed in colour by Edmund Evans, many plates incorporating three or four smaller images. Numerous black and white vignettes. A near fine example of this influential illustrated children's book. Both internally and externally in excellent condition, a couple of tiny blemishes to the cloth and the very occasional spot of foxing. Overall uncommonly bright and clean, with less wear and foxing than usually encountered.
This beautiful production, a masterpiece of Victorian colour printing, must be considered to be Doyle's finest work, in which he reveals his secret fairy world at its most enchanting. Issued in a lavish combination of coloured wood-engravings, an elaborate binding designed by the artist, and a poem by William Allingham, this was always designed to be an extravagant gift and collector's piece. Longmans printed two thousand copies, but the high price of 31s 6d meant that it was far too expensive for most households, and the records in the Longman Archive (University of Reading) indicate that few were sold, resulting in the remaining copies being reissued with a revised title page in 1875. This, combined with the all too common practice of removing the plates for framing, makes the book increasingly hard to find.
Eric Quayle, in The Collector's Book of Children's Books, writes that it is "one of the finest books ever produced for children, and from the collector's point of view a most desirable item to add to any library of juvenile works."
Quayle p.41, V&A Richard Doyle
Stock ID: 38064
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