1930 First Edition - Turn Again Tales by Laurence Housman, Illustrated

Author: Laurence Housman. Illustrated by Alec Buckels, Marjorie Dawes, May Smith, Roy Meldrum, Harold King, Marian Allen, W. G. Raffé, A. H. Watson, C. T. Nightingale, and Ann Gillmore Carter.
Title: Turn Again Tales.
Publisher: Oxford, Basil Blackwell, no date [1930]. First edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 10 × 7 inches.
Pages: 280 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine original publisher’s beige cloth binding with printed titles to spine and upper board and a mounted color illustration panel to the front cover (hinges fine, light toning - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good, near fine content (bright, tight and clean, rare light toning - as shown). Includes an armorial-style ex-libris to the front pastedown. A well-kept and highly presentable copy.
Illustrations: Richly illustrated with multiple color plates mounted on brown paper guards, along with numerous black-and-white illustrations and decorative headpieces by a group of noted early 20th-century illustrators. Complete.

The book: Turn Again Tales is a beautifully produced collection of literary fairy tales by Laurence Housman, issued by Basil Blackwell during a period when fine illustrated Edwardian gift books were highly sought after. 

The author: Laurence Housman (1865–1959) was an English playwright, writer, illustrator, and social reformer. A member of a highly creative family that included poet A. E. Housman, he became known for his imaginative fairy tales and symbolic literature, as well as for his later activism in social and political causes. His fairy tale works often combine gentle fantasy with moral reflection and literary sophistication.

The illustrators: This edition is notable for bringing together a large group of illustrators, each contributing a distinct visual voice. Their work reflects the transition from late Victorian decorative illustration into the lighter, narrative-driven style of early 20th-century children’s and gift book art. The combination of mounted color plates and black-and-white line drawings gives the book both visual variety and strong decorative appeal.