1885 Scarce First Edition - Edouard Laboulaye's Last Fairy Tales, illustrated

Author: Édouard Laboulaye.
Title: Laboulaye’s Last Fairy Tales.
Publisher: New York, Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, 1885. First US Edition.
Language: Text in English (authorized translation from the French).
Size: 7.5 x 5.5 inches.
Pages: xviii-382 pages + publisher's catalog.
Binding: Attractive and very good, beautiful publisher's original decorated olive-green cloth binding, stamped in gilt and blind, featuring an art nouveau-style design of a seated fairy within a shell (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.. A rare find in any condition!
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, some light foxing and staining - as shown, front endpaper inner hinge worn but still tight - as shown, early gift inscription on front flyleaf dated Christmas 1884 - as shown, 2 small bookplates on the first endpaper - as shown).
Illustrations: Fully illustrated with in-text engravings and full-page illustrations, including a frontispiece portrait of Laboulaye. Richly detailed and whimsically rendered images by an uncredited illustrator (monogrammed “FP” on some plates), enhancing the magical tone of the fairy tales.

Estimate: (Scarce with no or few other copies available for sale worldwide).

The book: A charming and richly illustrated 1885 First American Edition of Laboulaye’s Last Fairy Tales, the final volume in the beloved trilogy of fairy tales by Édouard Laboulaye. This edition, translated by Mary L. Booth, preserves the wit, moral allegory, and imaginative depth of the original French stories, offering readers of all ages a glimpse into a 19th-century reimagining of folklore with a political subtext. The attractive Art Nouveau cloth design enhances its collectibility.

The author: Édouard Laboulaye (1811–1883) was a prominent French jurist, poet, professor, and political thinker, widely known for his liberal ideals and support for the abolition of slavery. He is best remembered today as the intellectual sponsor of the Statue of Liberty project. His fairy tales—deceptively whimsical—often encoded commentary on justice, freedom, and equality, reflecting his republican values during the Second Empire and early Third Republic in France.

The translator: Mary Louise Booth (1831–1889) was a renowned American translator, historian, and the first editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar. A skilled linguist and advocate for women’s rights, Booth’s translation work brought many significant French literary and historical texts to English-speaking readers, including Laboulaye’s fairy tales.