2000 Signed First Edition- The Gnome King’s Treasure Song by Charles van Sandwyk
This book has been sold, but we regularly acquire comparable copies.
An exceptionally attractive signed First Edition of Charles van Sandwyk’s The Gnome King’s Treasure Song, one of the artist’s most enchanting early Fairy Press productions, issued in a limited edition of 2,000 copies.
Author: Charles van Sandwyk.
Title: The Gnome King’s Treasure Song.
Publisher: North Vancouver, B.C.: The Fairy Press, Charles van Sandwyk Fine Arts, December 2000.
Edition: First Edition. Limited edition of 2,000 copies. Signed by Charles van Sandwyk on the blank page facing the title page. This copy features the desirable pictorial cover variant depicting the Gnome King seated upon a treasure chest and playing a harp.
Language: English.
Pages: Unpaginated, 16 pages.
Size: 7 x 5 inches.
Binding: Fine original dark green linen-textured pictorial card covers, richly decorated in copper foil with ornamental borders, crown and lettering, and with an inset color illustration of the Gnome King to the front cover. Red paper inner hinges and contrasting endpapers. Binding bright, clean and exceptionally well preserved. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Fine content, clean, bright and beautifully preserved throughout. Signed by Charles van Sandwyk on the blank page facing the title page. Printed on substantial handmade-style paper with deckle edges. No ownership inscriptions or notable defects observed.
Illustrations: Profusely illustrated throughout in color by Charles van Sandwyk, with tipped-in and full-page illustrations, decorative calligraphy, ornamental borders and charming depictions of gnomes, fairies, bees, woodland creatures, flowers and other elements of the artist’s imaginary world.
Estimate: USD 550–700.
The book: The Gnome King’s Treasure Song is one of Charles van Sandwyk’s most delightful small-format Fairy Press books, a lyrical meditation on the treasures hidden in the natural world. The Gnome King sings not simply of material riches, but of changing seasons, fruit, flowers, insects, scattered seeds and the small pleasures that give life its true value. Van Sandwyk’s handwritten calligraphy and richly detailed illustrations transform the short poem into an intimate miniature world, culminating in the reflection that “living is the finest treasure.”
Published by Van Sandwyk’s own Fairy Press in December 2000 in an edition of only 2,000 copies, the book embodies the handmade character that distinguishes his early independent publications. Deckle-edged papers, tipped-in imagery, copper-foil decoration and elaborate page design give the volume the appearance of a private-press keepsake. Signed examples in such fine condition are especially desirable to collectors of Van Sandwyk and contemporary illustrated books.
The author and illustrator: Charles van Sandwyk (born 1966) is a Canadian artist, illustrator, calligrapher and bookmaker celebrated for his exquisitely imagined world of fairies, gnomes, animals and woodland characters. Drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Illustration and the traditions of private-press bookmaking, he combines delicate pen work, watercolor, typography and ornament into books that function as works of art in their own right.
Van Sandwyk has developed an international following among collectors of illustrated and fine-press books. Alongside the intimate publications issued through his Fairy Press, he has illustrated acclaimed editions for the Folio Society and other publishers. His early signed Fairy Press productions remain particularly appealing because they preserve the personal, handcrafted character at the heart of his work.