{"product_id":"1910-rare-first-edition-a-child-s-book-of-old-verses-by-jessie-willcox-smith","title":"1910 Rare First Edition - A Child’s Book of Old Verses by Jessie Willcox Smith","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA handsome First Edition, First Printing of Jessie Willcox Smith’s beloved anthology of childhood verse, complete with all ten colour plates, pictorial endpapers, and its wonderfully preserved original pictorial cloth binding.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Various authors; selected and illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTitle:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Child’s Book of Old Verses.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e New York: Duffield \u0026amp; Company, 1910.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e First Edition, First Printing. Nudelman A30.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e English.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePages:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e ix, 124 pages.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSize:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 9.5 x 7 inches.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBinding:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Very good original dark blue publisher’s cloth, lettered in gilt to the front board and spine, with a large mounted colour illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith to the upper cover within a gilt and blind-stamped frame. The pictorial onlay shows the characteristic light rubbing and surface wear visible in the photographs, while the cloth remains particularly fresh and well preserved with only minor wear to the extremities. Top edge gilt; fore and lower edges untrimmed. Protected in a removable mylar cover. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eContent:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Very good, clean and well-preserved content on heavy quality paper. Complete. Original pictorial endpapers printed in blue with Smith’s repeating image of a little girl with a hoop. Contemporary ownership inscription to the upper corner of the front free endpaper.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIllustrations:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Complete with ten full-page colour plates by Jessie Willcox Smith, including the frontispiece \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Child’s Grace\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, together with numerous charming black-and-white illustrations and decorative headpieces throughout the text. The colour plates retain strong, attractive colour and are accompanied by their original captioned tissue guards.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEstimate: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e$250–325 USD.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe book:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Child’s Book of Old Verses\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e gathers a wonderfully varied selection of poems, nursery rhymes and songs for children, chosen by Jessie Willcox Smith from writers including William Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred Tennyson, George MacDonald, Lewis Carroll, William Makepeace Thackeray, Jane and Ann Taylor, and many traditional or anonymous sources. Familiar pieces such as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTwinkle, Twinkle, Little Star\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSweet and Low\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow Doth the Little Busy Bee\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAway in a Manger\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e appear alongside less frequently encountered Victorian childhood verse.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published by Duffield in 1910, this is the \u003c\/span\u003eFirst Edition, First Printing\u003cspan\u003e, identified as Nudelman A30. Its generous format, gilt top edge, pictorial endpapers, colour cover onlay and ten full-page colour illustrations make it one of Smith’s particularly attractive early twentieth-century gift books. Complete copies retaining all ten plates are increasingly desirable.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe illustrator:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJessie Willcox Smith (1863–1935) was one of the leading American illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration. A pupil of Howard Pyle and a member of the celebrated group of women artists later known as the Red Rose Girls, she became especially renowned for her sympathetic and remarkably natural portrayals of childhood. Her work appeared in major magazines, advertisements and numerous books, including editions of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLittle Women\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Child’s Garden of Verses\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Water-Babies\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSmith’s children are distinguished by their warmth, individuality and lack of sentimentality. In \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Child’s Book of Old Verses\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, the ten colour plates range from intimate domestic scenes to playful encounters with animals and the seaside, while her smaller black-and-white drawings weave through the poetry itself. The result is a particularly successful marriage of text, typography and illustration characteristic of Smith at the height of her career.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MFLIBRA - Antique Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67251206947065,"sku":null,"price":200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0953\/3348\/files\/20260929childsbook_01.jpg?v=1790705158","url":"https:\/\/mflibra.com\/products\/1910-rare-first-edition-a-child-s-book-of-old-verses-by-jessie-willcox-smith","provider":"MFLIBRA - Antique Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}