1922 Rare First Edition - Heidi by Johanna Spyri illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.
(Description)
Author: Johanna Spyri. (illustrator, Jessie Willcox Smith).
Title: HEIDI Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.
Publisher: Philadelphia, David McKay Company, 1922. First Edition illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith (Nudelman A58). First issue with top edge gilt and colored line drawings throughout in red, green, and yellow instead of black and white in the second issue.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 9.5" X 7".
Pages: 380 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original illustrated full cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly bumped, worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. Upper edge gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and clean, rare light foxing and staininig - as shown, endpapers inner hinges worn but still tight - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the very nice ten full-page color plates, color title page, and the colored line drawings throughout in red, green, and yellow by Jessie Willcox Smith.
The book: Rare and Attractive first illustrated edition by Jessie Willcox Smith of Heidi - a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her paternal grandfather's care in the Swiss Alps.
Heidi is one of the best-selling books ever written and is among the best-known works of Swiss literature.
The author: Johanna Louise Spyri (née Heusser; German: 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss-born author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book Heidi. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers near Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.
The illustrator: Jessie Willcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935) was an American illustrator during the Golden Age of American illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators". She was a contributor to books and magazines during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Smith illustrated stories and articles for clients such as Century, Collier's, Leslie's Weekly, Harper's, McClure's, Scribners, and the Ladies' Home Journal.