First Edition. Folio (47cm*38cm). Original 16 colour-printed plates mounted to grey card. Tissue-guards, title, list of illustrations, and caption guards supplied in beautiful calligraphic manuscript. Recently bound into a modern green three-quarter morocco binding, using the original pictorial gilt portfolio as upper cover, spine divided into six panels with raised bands, lettered in gilt on red morocco labels in the second and fourth panels, marbled endleaves, a previous owner’s bookplate to front pastedown, contained in custom made green cloth slipcase. Published by Macmillan & Co (London), 1903.
A small scuff to the top of the spine of the binding, else the binding is in fine condition. A few minor blemishes and browning to the edges of a small number of the plates, else the contents are in fine condition. The slipcase is a little faded in places and has a few very minor marks; very good.
The 16 colour plates were originally issued by the publisher as loose sheets in a portfolio. Here they are very attractively and skilfully presented in a bound version, using the front board of the portfolio as its upper cover. The plates were often split up and sold as individual pieces of artwork. It is thus rare to find with the complete suite of plates and in such excellent condition.
This work was published when the Detmold twins were only twenty years old, and it was their last collaboration prior to Maurice’s death in 1908. A report on the publication of this work in the New York Times for 5 December 1903 stated that "the edition is strictly limited to 500 copies for England and America".
These illustrations established the Detmold brothers as exceptional illustrators of zoological and botanical subjects, and is often considered their finest work. "These paintings were praised for their realistic detail and decorative arrangement." (Richard Dalby, The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration, 1991.)
Please contact us for shipping costs if ordering from outside the UK.
First Edition. Folio (47cm*38cm). Original 16 colour-printed plates mounted to grey card. Tissue-guards, title, list of illustrations, and caption guards supplied in beautiful calligraphic manuscript. Recently bound into a modern green three-quarter morocco binding, using the original pictorial gilt portfolio as upper cover, spine divided into six panels with raised bands, lettered in gilt on red morocco labels in the second and fourth panels, marbled endleaves, a previous owner’s bookplate to front pastedown, contained in custom made green cloth slipcase. Published by Macmillan & Co (London), 1903.
A small scuff to the top of the spine of the binding, else the binding is in fine condition. A few minor blemishes and browning to the edges of a small number of the plates, else the contents are in fine condition. The slipcase is a little faded in places and has a few very minor marks; very good.
The 16 colour plates were originally issued by the publisher as loose sheets in a portfolio. Here they are very attractively and skilfully presented in a bound version, using the front board of the portfolio as its upper cover. The plates were often split up and sold as individual pieces of artwork. It is thus rare to find with the complete suite of plates and in such excellent condition.
This work was published when the Detmold twins were only twenty years old, and it was their last collaboration prior to Maurice’s death in 1908. A report on the publication of this work in the New York Times for 5 December 1903 stated that "the edition is strictly limited to 500 copies for England and America".
These illustrations established the Detmold brothers as exceptional illustrators of zoological and botanical subjects, and is often considered their finest work. "These paintings were praised for their realistic detail and decorative arrangement." (Richard Dalby, The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration, 1991.)
Please contact us for shipping costs if ordering from outside the UK.
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