1912 Scarce 1stED Illustrated by Harold Copping - Louisa May Alcott Little Women

The first edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women illustrated by Harold Copping, published in 1912 and complete with all eight of his full-page color plates, preserved in the uncommon original pictorial gilt binding.

Author: Louisa May Alcott.
Title: Little Women: A Story for Girls.
Publisher: London: The Religious Tract Society, 1912.
Edition: First Edition illustrated by Harold Copping.
Language: English.
Pages: 318 pages.
Size: 9 x 7 inches.
Binding: Very good original cream cloth binding, richly decorated and lettered in gilt to the front board and spine, with inset color pictorial panels to both. The binding remains firm and attractive, with some age toning to the spine and light general wear as shown. Top edge gilt. Protected in a removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good content, clean and well preserved, with only occasional light age toning and minor signs of use. Complete with all eight full-page color plates by Harold Copping, each reproduced from his original watercolor drawings.
Illustrations: Eight full-page color plates by Harold Copping, including the frontispiece The Pilgrims on the Delectable Mountain, together with scenes depicting Jo, Meg, Amy, Beth, Laurie, and the March family.

Estimate: $300–350 USD.

The book:

First published in 1868, Little Women follows the lives of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they grow from childhood toward adulthood in Civil War-era New England. Louisa May Alcott drew heavily upon her own family experiences, creating a domestic novel whose combination of humor, hardship, ambition, affection and independence has made it one of the enduring classics of American literature.

This handsome 1912 edition is especially desirable as the first edition of Little Women illustrated by Harold Copping. His eight watercolor illustrations bring a distinctly Edwardian sensibility to Alcott’s story, while the publisher’s elaborate cream-and-gilt pictorial binding gives the volume unusual decorative appeal. Complete copies retaining all eight color plates and the original binding are increasingly difficult to find in such well-preserved condition.

The author:

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) was an American novelist, short-story writer and poet, best remembered for Little Women and its sequels Good Wives, Little Men and Jo’s Boys. Raised in a progressive New England household, she grew up among many of the leading intellectual figures of the American Transcendentalist movement and began writing professionally to help support her family.

Although Alcott initially regarded Little Women as a relatively modest undertaking, the novel became an immediate success and established her international reputation. Its vivid characterization, particularly the independent and literary-minded Jo March, has continued to resonate with generations of readers and helped secure Alcott’s place among the most important American writers of the nineteenth century.

The illustrator:
Harold Copping (1863–1932) was a prominent British illustrator especially associated with literary, religious and historical subjects. Working extensively for publishers including the Religious Tract Society, he became known for carefully composed narrative scenes rendered with a warm, accessible realism.

His watercolor illustrations for Little Women bring an unmistakably Edwardian sensibility to Alcott’s nineteenth-century story. The eight plates in this edition form a coherent visual sequence and are particularly effective in the domestic and character-driven scenes that define the novel.