1st Edition, Lang Fairy Tales, Blue Red Fairy Bks, RARE collectible illustrated

Description: 1st Edition, Lang Fairy Tales, Blue Red Fairy Books, RARE collectible illustrated 1900 -- Stunning set of 1st printing, first edition thus antique Color Fairy books by Andrew Lang from the turn of the 20th century. This RARE to find and highly sought after set of the original two color fairy books; The Blue Fairy book and The Red Fairy book with all 164 stories and 439 illustrations by H.J. Ford and G.P. Jacomb Hood from Dover Publications, based on the 1889 edition from Longman, this set is First edition thus. Mershon's early first edition thus copies of the Color Fairy Books are a more affordable choice but also a genuinely enchanting edition of these color fairy books collected by Andrew Lang. This set is a perfect keepsake for a novice fairy tale collector. Books are in Good reading condition with considerable wear from age. Signs of wear present to the colorful canvas cover edges and spine. Each book is stunningly canvas bound in colorful tones with correlating fairy color titles. The decorative stamped pictorial board hard covers show depictions of the Fairy Queen with her critters upon the spine as well as a boy riding a swan upon the covers in correlating red and blue toned coloring. Shelf wear present. Spines are mostly in tact but are split at front and back cover with netting exposed and a lean to each volume (typical of well-loved books this age). The first leaves including a hand penned inscription of the red fairy are loose and torn having been nibbled by fairies. The pages are bright and crisp and flip easily but are discolored and ruffled from age. The leaves are generally unmarked with no tears or creasing and have that slight old book smell. Both of these are are functional reading copies, but I am holding them carefully as they are highly collectible, rare to find, and quite old. They look majestic together upon my bookshelf of other prized fairytales form the late 1800s and early 20th century. Each book measures 7 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1 1/2" Each volume is just shy 400 pages with additional publishers advertising at the back Lang's urge to gather and publish fairy tales was rooted in his own experience with the folk and fairy tales of his home territory along the Anglo-Scottish border. British fairy tale collections were rare in his time and Lang "was fighting against the critics and educationists of the day" who judged the traditional tales' "unreality, brutality, and escapism to be harmful for young readers, while holding that such stories were beneath the serious consideration of those of mature age". Therefore, Lang's books, particularly through the popularity of the Color Fairy series, revolutionized public perception of Fairy Tales gaining their cultural acceptance. The Color Fairy series in particular was immensely popular, helped by Lang's reputation as a folklorist and by the packaging device of the uniform books. The series proved of great influence in children's literature, increasing the popularity of fairy tales over tales of real life. The first four volumes (Blue, Red, Yellow and Green Fairy Books) are highly sought and increasingly rare finds in all the early editions following their original publication in the late 19th century. Mershon Company were renowned for their publications of popular literature at the turn of the twentieth century. These elaborately decorated and often illustrated novels are collections of timeless reading bound in pictorial elegance. Cover to cover, these are highly collectible and wonderful reading too. I enjoy that this rough and tumble copy can be enjoyed without too much worry over hurting it. Though it is shabby, it's also quite durable and strong. A diamond in the rough. Ships wrapped in tissue, tied with string and handmade tags then packed securely in repurposed materials 'Waste not, want not' More nostalgic relics available in the Vintage & Antique Boutique

Price: 250 USD

Location: Grass Valley, California

End Time: 2024-12-27T20:29:33.000Z

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