1897 Rare Book – The Missing Prince by G. E. Farrow Illustrated by Harry Furniss
Author: G. E. Farrow.
Title: The Missing Prince.
Illustrators: Harry Furniss and Dorothy Furniss.
Publisher: London, Hutchinson & Co., 34 Paternoster Row, 1897. (Fifth Thousand — issued one year after the 1896 first edition.)
Language: Text in English.
Size: 8" × 6".
Pages: xii-197 pages + publisher's catalogue.
Binding: Attractive and very good original publisher’s green pictorial cloth binding, elaborately stamped in gilt and black with delightful designs of lobsters riding bicycles and a seated boy on the front cover, gilt title and whimsical motifs on spine, and a black-ink vignette on rear board (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. Overall a bright, well-preserved copy of this attractively produced late-Victorian children’s book.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown). A pleasing example of this early printing.
Illustrations: Profusely illustrated with full-page drawings by Harry Furniss and vignettes by Dorothy Furniss, including the frontispiece titled “The Lord High Adjudicator had overcome the matter.” (Complete).
The Book: Published in 1897 as the “Fifth Thousand” issue, this charming edition of The Missing Prince followed the 1896 first edition by only a few months, confirming the book’s immediate popularity. It continues the fantastical adventures begun in The Wallypug of Why, combining G. E. Farrow’s playful nonsense prose with vivid illustrations by the celebrated Furniss family.
A delightful example of late-Victorian imaginative literature, notable for its humor, inventive wordplay, and whimsical social satire, all housed in a striking gilt pictorial cloth binding emblematic of the 1890s golden age of British fantasy books.
The Author: George Edward Farrow (1862 – 1919) was one of the most engaging British authors of children’s fantasy during the fin de siècle. His blend of imagination, gentle satire, and child-centered perspective earned him comparisons to Lewis Carroll. The Missing Prince exemplifies his gift for turning absurd premises into adventures full of warmth and wit.
The Illustrators: Harry Furniss (1854 – 1925), renowned for his caricatures in Punch and his later collaborations with Lewis Carroll (Sylvie and Bruno), brings exuberant energy and humor to Farrow’s world. His daughter, Dorothy Furniss, contributes graceful vignette drawings that perfectly complement his father’s animated line work—making this one of the most charming father-daughter illustration partnerships of the Victorian period.