1919 Rare First Edition - AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND, Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.
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(Description)
Author: George MacDonald. (Jessie Willcox Smith, illustrator).
Title: At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald. Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.
Publisher: Philadelphia, David McKay, 1919. First Edition illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. First edition. First issue book, satisfying all of the points in Nudelman A53.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 9.5 " X 7.5 ".
Pages: 342 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good, near fine original decorated cloth-covered boards with gold stamped lettering on the spine and a pictorial pastedown on the front cover (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed - as shown). Upper edge gilt. Rare in such a beautiful condition!
Content: Very good, near fine content (bright, tight, and clean, name of a previous owner on the endpapers - as shown).
Illustrations: Beautifully illustrated with the complete eight full-page color illustrations by Jessie Willcox Smith.
Estimate: (USD 300 - USD 400)
The book: Rare and very attractive First edition illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith of At the Back of the North Wind -- a children's book written by Scottish author George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered on a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind. Diamond travels together with the mysterious Lady North Wind through the nights. The book includes the fairy tale Little Daylight, which has been pulled out as an independent work, or separately, added to other collections of his fairy tales.
The author: George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. His writings have been cited as a major literary influence by many notable authors, including W. H. Auden, J. M. Barrie, Lord Dunsany, Hope Mirrlees, Robert E. Howard, L. Frank Baum, T.H. White, Lloyd Alexander, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit, Peter S. Beagle, Neil Gaiman and Madeleine L'Engle. C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master": "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later", said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier." G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence".
The illustrator: Jessie Willcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935) was an American illustrator during the Golden Age of American illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators". She was a contributor to books and magazines during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.