1909 Rare Book - AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND. First Edition illustrated by Maria L. Kirk.
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(Description)
Author: George MacDonald (illustrated by Maria L. Kirk).
Title: At the Back of the North Wind. With twelve illustrations in color by Maria L. Kirk.
Publisher: Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1909. First Edition illustrated by Maria L. Kirk. Real first edition with the date of 1909 on both copyright and title pages.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 8 " X 6 ".
Pages: v-352 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original decorated full cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. Upper edge gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare foxing or staining - as shown, name of a previous owner on the upper part of the blank page at the back of the frontisîece - as shown, small bookseller stamp on last endpaper - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the beautiful 12 full-page color illustrations by Maria L. Kirk.
The book: Rare and attractive First Edition illustrated by Maria L. Kirk of At the Back of the North Wind -- a children's book written by Scottish author George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered on a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind. Diamond travels together with the mysterious Lady North Wind through the nights. The book includes the fairy tale Little Daylight, which has been pulled out as an independent work, or separately, added to other collections of his fairy tales.
The author: George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll.
The illustrator: Maria Louise Kirk was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 21st June 1860. Despite being a prolific and highly talented illustrator, very little is known about her life. She studied art in Philadelphia – at the School of Design for Women, and the Academy of Fine Arts. These schools were well-respected in the area, and Kirk exhibited broadly in her home state. She consequently won awards in both Philadelphia and Chicago and illustrated over fifty books during the course of her lifetime. Many of her most famous pieces were commissioned during the 1890s, and her most celebrated work was a delicate rendition of Alice in Wonderland, which came out in 1904. Kirk’s characteristic style included exceptionally technically well-executed children, with bright foregrounds and foreboding dark backgrounds. Her characters are stylized, and statuesque in their quiet beauty, but show little of the art nouveau and art deco influences so prominent for many of Kirk’s fellow illustrators. Today, her monotone works are just as sought after as her color plates. Maria Louise Kirk died on her birthday in 1938 – at the age of seventy-eight.