1865 Rare First Edition - GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S FAIRY LIBRARY. Illustrated.
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(Description)
Author: George Cruikshank.
Title: George Cruikshank's Fairy Library. Hop O' My Thumb, Jack & The Bean Stalk, Cinderella, Puss in Boots.
Publisher: London, Bell and Daldy, no date (1865). First consolidated edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 " X 6 ".
Pages: 30-32-31-40 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original Victorian gilt decorated full-cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, some foxing and staining mainly on the outer margins of some pages - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with all the wonderful illustrations by George Cruikshank.
Estimate: (Scarce with practically no other copy available worldwide).
The book: Attractive and scarce first consolidated edition of THE CRUIKSHANK'S FAIRY LIBRARY BOOK including Hop O' My Thumb, Jack & The Bean Stalk, Cinderella and Puss in Boots. The last three pages of Cinderella (pages 29-31) is an address, "To the Public" in which Cruikshank rebukes Harriet Beecher Stowe and justifies his version of "Jack and the Beanstalk". Cruikshank altered the stories to express his views on total abstinence and incurred the sharp censure of Charles Dickens who published an article, "Frauds on the Fairies" in Household words. Cruikshank's answer to Dickens's attack appears on the last 13-pages of "Puss in Boots" as "An Address to Little Boys and Girls" & "To Parents, Guardians, and all Persons intrusted with the Care of Children". Another address on the verso of the general title draws attention to the confusion resulting from the similarity of the names of himself, his nephew, Percy and his great-nephew, George. Very rare especially in the original cloth and in this condition.
The illustrator: George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.