Friday, January 29, 2010

Antiquarian dreaming, Part 2

In my previous post, I wrote about my cherished little collection of antiquarian photos.

They're not the only old things I've purchased over time.

These are:
* Grimm's Fairy Tales with 48 colour plates by Harry G Theaker. Published ca. 1920 by Ward, Lock & Co.
* Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Illustrated by AH Watson. Published 1951 by Collins.
* Just So Stories for Little Children by Rudyard Kipling illustrated by the author. Published 1950 by Macmillan and Co. Ltd.
* Andersen's Fairy Tales published by Blackie & Son [undated but web search suggests ca. 1940s??]
* Peter Pan and Wendy by JM Barrie. Published by Hodder & Stoughton [undated but web search suggests ca. 1947]

They're not mint condition but definitely pre-loved. I don't mind that. I'm not really one of those serious collectors who bid X dollars for antiquarian books in pristine condition, with dust jackets and all. I buy them for whimsy [for instance, the Grimm's book has a couple of clover-like leaves pressed between its pages, placed there who-knows how long ago]. And I guess from a deep love of old-fashioned books: their smell, weight, texture and (sometimes) colour. A couple of these hardbound children's books have got gorgeous illustrations called colour plates, made by two of the most popular book artists of the genre and of the period:

[Alice and the Caterpillar, AH Watson]

[Rumpelstiltskin, HG Theaker]

These images are straight from the scanner, Photoshop-free, simply cropped with MS Picture Manager.

Again, as with my request with the old photos, if you happen to come across books of a similar nature to these, please purchase to be reimbursed or let me know where they can be found.

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