1923 Rare Book - Oriental Fairy Tales Illustrated by Rie Cramer

Author: Various. Introduction by Sir Edwin Arnold. Illustrated by Rie Cramer.
Title: Oriental Fairy Tales.
Publisher: New York, Duffield & Company, 1923.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 9" x 6.5".
Pages: viii-627 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good, beautiful publisher’s original green cloth binding, richly decorated with a mounted color plate by Rie Cramer framed in gilt and with gilt lettering to the front cover and spine (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean - as shown). 
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout with sixteen tipped-in colour plates by Rie Cramer, each with printed border. The plates—featuring scenes of Scheherazade, Ali Baba, Sinbad, and other mythic figures—are vibrant, stylized, and luminous, characteristic of Cramer’s refined Art Deco sensibility.

Estimate: (USD 250 – 300).

The book: A beautiful early American edition of Oriental Fairy Tales, featuring Rie Cramer’s enchanting illustrations that merge Eastern narrative traditions with Western decorative modernism. This 1923 Duffield & Co. printing gathers timeless stories from the Arabian Nights, Indian, and Persian traditions, including The Story of Caliph Stork, The Wandering of Vicram Maharajah, The Fisherman and the Genie, Ali Baba, Sinbad the Sailor, and Scheherazade. The artistic presentation—with its bold composition, rich color harmonies, and elegant gold-stamped binding—captures the period’s fascination with the mystical East, as filtered through the sophisticated lens of early 20th-century book art.

The author and editor: Introduced by Sir Edwin Arnold (1832–1904), celebrated author of The Light of Asia and an influential translator of Oriental texts, this collection reflects his lifelong engagement with the moral and aesthetic values of Eastern literature. His introduction situates these tales as bridges between East and West, emphasizing their poetic humanity and enduring wisdom.

The illustrator: Rie Cramer (1887–1977) was a Dutch artist and one of the most admired illustrators of the early 20th century. Her work—graceful, decorative, and deeply expressive—embodies the Art Deco and Jugendstil influences of her time. Cramer’s ethereal depictions of fairy-tale worlds combine stylized linework and luminous color to evoke the exotic romance and refinement of the Orient. Her contributions to Oriental Fairy Tales rank among her most exquisite and sought-after book illustrations.