1866 Scarce Book - Fairy Land by Thomas Hood and Jane Hood, Illustrated
This book has been sold, but we regularly acquire comparable copies.
A scarce and beautifully preserved Victorian children’s book, combining fairy tales, verse and moral fantasy in a striking gilt and black decorated binding, with numerous imaginative illustrations throughout.
Author: Thomas Hood and Jane Hood, with contributions by members of the Hood family and others.
Illustrator: T. Hood Junior.
Title: Fairy Land; or, Recreation for the Rising Generation.
Publisher: London: Griffith and Farran, successors to Newbery and Harris, Corner of St. Paul’s Churchyard, 1866.
Edition: Second Edition.
Language: English.
Pages: x, 184 pages, followed by the publisher’s catalogue.
Size: 7 x 5.5 inches.
Binding: Very good original publisher’s green cloth binding, elaborately decorated to the front board and spine in gilt and black with floral ornaments, fleur-de-lis devices, geometric borders and gilt lettering. Blind-stamped decoration to the rear board. All edges gilt. Light rubbing and wear to the extremities, principally at the spine ends and corners, consistent with age. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content, generally clean, bright and firmly bound, with occasional light age toning and minor spotting. Contemporary ownership inscription in pencil to the front free endpaper, as shown. Complete.
Illustrations: Complete with the numerous black-and-white illustrations by T. Hood Junior, including the frontispiece The Little Girl at the Brook, together with full-page illustrations and decorative headpieces and initials throughout. Among the particularly charming plates are The Frog Boasting, The Fairy of the Fountain, The Great Procession, The Good and Bad Dream and The Water-Spirit’s Song.
Estimate: USD 250–350.
The book: A scarce and highly attractive Victorian collection of children’s prose and verse, Fairy Land; or, Recreation for the Rising Generation brings together stories, poems and fanciful pieces associated with the family of celebrated English poet and humorist Thomas Hood.
As the introductory “Story of These Stories” explains, the collection originated in a group of “childish articles” intended by Thomas and Jane Hood for younger readers. The contents range from humorous and domestic pieces to outright fairy tales and fantasies, including The Discontented Mouse, The Enchanted Steed, The Three Wishes, The Good and Bad Dream, The Water-Spirit’s Song and The Golden Armour. The volume retains much of the playful tone associated with Thomas Hood while placing it within the richly imaginative world of mid-Victorian children’s literature.
This 1866 Edition is especially appealing in its original decorative cloth, with bold gilt and black blocking that gives the volume the appearance of a true Victorian gift book. The profusion of illustrations, ornamental typography and all-gilt edges add considerably to its charm.
The authors: Thomas Hood (1799–1845) was an English poet, humorist and editor, remembered both for his comic verse and wordplay and for more serious poems such as The Song of the Shirt and The Bridge of Sighs. Alongside his wife Jane, Hood also wrote and conceived material for younger readers. After their deaths, members of the Hood family preserved and published a number of these writings, including the pieces collected in Fairy Land.
The illustrator: T. Hood Junior, the son of Thomas Hood, contributed the illustrations to this edition. His drawings move easily between fairy-tale fantasy, comic grotesque and naturalistic scenes, giving the book much of its distinctly Victorian character.