1909 Scarce First Edition Illustrated by Millicent Sowerby - Grimm’s Fairy Tales
An uncommon and beautifully preserved 1909 first edition of this Sowerby interpretation of Grimm’s fairy tales, complete with all twelve enchanting color illustrations by Millicent Sowerby and retaining its striking gilt and pictorial publisher’s binding.
Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Selected and retold by Githa Sowerby. Illustrated by Millicent Sowerby.
Title: Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Publisher: London, Grant Richards, 7 Carlton Street, 1909. First Edition of the Githa and Millicent Sowerby edition.
Edition: First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Pages: xv-255 pages.
Size: 9.5" x 7".
Binding: Near fine original publisher’s dark blue cloth binding, richly decorated and lettered in gilt to the front board and spine, with an attractive inset color illustration to the upper board. Hinges fine and binding firm, with only very minor age wear at the extremities, as shown. Upper edge gilt. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content, bright, tight, and clean, with only occasional minor signs of age, as shown. Decorative pale blue illustrated endpapers.
Illustrations: Complete with all 12 wonderful full-page color illustrations by Millicent Sowerby, including the color frontispiece, all remarkably clean and well preserved.
Estimate: $350–550 USD.
The book:
This delightful 1909 edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales presents a selection of the Brothers Grimm’s enduring stories, selected and retold by Githa Sowerby and accompanied by twelve full-page color illustrations by her sister, Millicent Sowerby. Familiar tales such as Little Red Cap, The Six Swans, The Little Brother and Sister, Cinderella, and other stories of enchanted forests, witches, princes, transformations and magical creatures are given an especially graceful Edwardian presentation.
Millicent Sowerby’s delicate palette, elegant figures and dreamlike interpretation of the fairy-tale world place this volume firmly within the Golden Age of British book illustration. The elaborate blue and gilt pictorial binding is particularly attractive and, combined with the complete suite of color plates, makes this an uncommon and quite scarce edition to encounter in such a remarkably nice state of preservation.
The authors:
Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), collectively known as the Brothers Grimm, were German scholars, linguists and folklorists whose collections of traditional stories became among the most influential works of European folklore. Their Kinder- und Hausmärchen, first published in the early nineteenth century, preserved stories that had circulated orally for generations.
The tales they collected, including Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin, have become foundational works of children’s literature and have inspired generations of writers, artists and illustrators.
The reteller:
Githa Sowerby (1876–1970) was an English writer and playwright, best remembered today for her pioneering 1912 play Rutherford and Son. Earlier in her career she produced children’s books and adaptations, including this carefully selected retelling of the Grimm fairy tales.
The illustrator:
Millicent Sowerby (1878–1967) was an English painter and illustrator associated with the Golden Age of children’s book illustration. She illustrated numerous books of fairy tales and children’s classics and became particularly admired for her refined watercolor palette, graceful figures and romantic interpretation of childhood and fantasy.
Her illustrations for Grimm’s Fairy Tales are among her most appealing early book works, combining the gentleness of Edwardian children’s illustration with the mysterious atmosphere of the traditional stories.