"Fairy Tales And Legends" 1935 ANDERSEN, Hans WHISTLER, Rex
$950
[470] pp.
1935
8.5" x 6" x 1.5"
Hans Andersen. Illustrated by Rex Whistler.
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London. Cobden-Sanderson Ltd. 1935. First edition. From the limited edition of 200 copies, bound in cream buckram and signed by Whistler on the half-title. Cream buckram-bound hardback, with elaborate rococo-style gilt ornament to boards and spine, with titles within decorative vignettes to front board and spine, matching ornamental endpapers, all edges gilt. Decorative title-page, 10 full-page plates, 16 text illustrations, 33 head-pieces and 15 tail-pieces. 210 x 150mm (8¼ x 6"). 0.9kg. . English. Near fine; a bright copy of an ornamental binding.
A beautiful copy of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends, illustrated and signed by Rex Whistler, bound in a limited-edition gilt binding. The romantic, otherworldliness of Hans Christian Andersen's tales are perfectly suited to Whistler's artistic sensibility, and his illustrations have elements of both humour and the macabre. Several of the illustrations were created using the scraperboard method. The book proved popular when first published and has subsequently been reprinted several times. There is a story that one of Whistler's friends walked up the aisle carrying a copy of the Fairy Tales, the ornamented cover proving to be a perfect substitute for a prayer book.
[Whistler & Fuller. The Work of Rex Whistler. No. 475; Cecil. In Search of Rex Whistler. His Life and Work. p. 110]