1913 First Edition - Princess Badoura Tale from Arabian Nights by Edmund Dulac
Author: Laurence Housman. Illustrated By Edmund Dulac.
Title: Princess Badoura. A Tale from the Arabian Nights. Retold by Laurence Housman. Illustrated by Edmund Dulac.
Publisher: No place (London), Hodder & Stoughton, no date (circa 1913). First Dulac Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 10 " X 8 ".
Pages: 113 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original publisher’s cream cloth, beautifully decorated and lettered in gilt and turquoise with Dulac’s elaborate Orientalist design to upper cover and spine. Mild darkening to spine, light rubbing to boards, but gilt remains bright. (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown, light stain on the front cover - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. A beautiful binding!
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing mainly to the endpapers - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with 10 mounted color plates by Edmund Dulac, each with a captioned tissue guard, printed on thick paper and set within decorative borders.
Estimate: (USD 500 - USD 750)
The book: A lovely first edition of Princess Badoura (1913), one of Edmund Dulac’s most sumptuous illustrated works, published at the height of the Golden Age of Illustration. Commissioned by Hodder & Stoughton, Dulac’s images—rich in jewel-like tones and exotic atmosphere—perfectly complement Laurence Housman’s elegant retelling of this tale from The Arabian Nights. A beautiful production, highly prized by collectors of Dulac and Orientalist book art.
The author: Laurence Housman (1865–1959) was an English playwright, writer, and illustrator, known for his fairy tales and political activism. His literary retelling of Princess Badoura brought new poetic life to one of the more obscure tales of The Arabian Nights, pairing wonderfully with Dulac’s evocative imagery.
The illustrator: Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac; October 22, 1882 – May 25, 1953) was a French-born, British naturalized magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer. Born in Toulouse he studied law but later turned to the study of art the École des Beaux-Arts. He moved to London early in the 20th century and in 1905 received his first commission to illustrate the novels of the Brontë Sisters. During World War I, Dulac produced relief books and when after the war the deluxe children's book market shrank he turned to magazine illustrations among other ventures. He designed banknotes during World War II and postage stamps, most notably those that heralded the beginning of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.