Description: In Fairyland. A Series of Pictures from the Elf-World. With a Poem by William Allingham. Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer (London), 1870. DESCRIPTION: Folio 14 7/8 x 10 5/8 inches; 378 x 271 mm. 31 pp. First edition. Illustrated with frontispiece and fifteen full page wood-engraved plates by Richard Doyle printed in color by Edmund Evans. Original dark green pictorial cloth binding with gilt ruling and titling with decorations on front cover and elaborate dense floral & animal gilt decorations on spine. Numerous vignette black and white illustrations throughout, including title page. All edges gilt. CONDITION: Dark green cloth and gilt binding in exceptional condition (fine), without the usual rubbing at binding edges and hinges. Text block / pages square and firm - a rarity for this book - due to professional repair (see below). Neat flowing inscription to the 1st (simpler) title page. Light toning and foxing to back of color frontispiece (see final photo) and rear free end-plate (blank). Light foxing at the edges of the color illustrations throughout (see photos) without affecting the illustrations. Text pages remain clean and bright with minimal toning in spots. IMPORTANT: This book is almost always badly flawed due to the original gutta percha binding technique resulting in the binding coming loose due to disintegration of the natural rubber with age, with numerous pages becoming loose as well. This binding has been extensively repaired and restored by a professional bookbinder (Scott K. Kellar - Chicago) to correct this problem. Specifically, the text block was removed from the original cover and disbound into individual leaves. The leaves were guarded together into signatures with Japanese repair tissue and link-stitched together with linen thread. The restored text block was reattached into the reinforced original cover with linen back lining. Original endsheets retained. DISCUSSION: This is a landmark publication, a major advance in the evolution of color illustration representing a 19th century high point. Richard Doyle's graceful, whimsical illustrations are widely thought to be his finest work and the Edmund Evans color wood engravings and printing are similarly amongst his finest work. "In Fairyland .....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, especially copies in the original green, morocco-grained, full-cloth bindings, pictorially blocked in gold on the front cover....." (Quayle, The Collector's Book of Children's Books, pg. 41). In summary, this is a beautiful edition of a beautiful and important book with extensive professional restoration and repair to assure future stability of the binding and text block. Quite rare in this condition. Please examine the photos carefully and ask all questions as sale is final. Domestic shipping cost with UPS Ground (fully tracked) with Signature Required is $25.00. International shipping with the U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail International is handled by the eBay Global Shipping Program and their cost calculation is based upon shipping destination. Preliminary estimate is $55-$75 for this folio-size book.
Price: 2800 USD
Location: Peoria, Illinois
End Time: 2024-11-03T16:38:01.000Z
Shipping Cost: 25 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Binding: Fine binding - hardcover
Language: English
Special Attributes: 1st Edition, Collector's Edition, Illustrated
Publisher: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer
Topic: Fairy Tale
Subject: Children's
Year Printed: 1870
Original/Facsimile: Original