2021 - The Meaning of Mice: Translated for Humans by Charles van Sandwyk, 1stED
An exquisite miniature Folio Society production by Charles van Sandwyk, combining his delicate calligraphy, whimsical mice, and richly detailed watercolours in an ingenious concertina-fold format.
Author: Charles van Sandwyk.
Title: The Meaning of Mice: Translated for Humans.
Publisher: London, The Folio Society Ltd., 2021.
Edition: Folio Society Edition. First Printing, 2021. Originally published by The Fairy Press, Vancouver, in 2002.
Language: English.
Pages: [20] pages, arranged in concertina-fold format.
Size: 5.5" x 4".
Binding: Fine original dark green paper-covered boards, beautifully blocked in gold to the front cover and spine, with a circular colour pictorial inset of the Painter Mouse surrounded by a gilt laurel wreath. The boards open to reveal an expansive illustrated landscape across the inner covers. Binding tight, clean, and exceptionally well preserved. Issued without a slipcase. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Fine. Printed on textured Chinese watercolour paper, the concertina leaves remain crisp, clean, bright, and unmarked. No ownership inscriptions noted. The reverse of the fold, left blank in the original 2002 edition, is here fully illustrated with artwork created especially for this Folio Society edition.
Illustrations: Profusely illustrated throughout in colour by Charles van Sandwyk, with hand-drawn lettering, full-page illustrations, vignettes, pictorial title page, and additional imagery across the reverse side of the concertina and the illustrated inner boards.
Estimate: USD 300–350.
The book:
First published in Vancouver by The Fairy Press in 2002, The Meaning of Mice is one of Charles van Sandwyk’s most charming small-format artist books. The Folio Society’s 2021 edition reimagines the work as a beautifully produced concertina book, retaining the intimate scale of the original while adding newly commissioned illustrations to the previously blank reverse side. The Folio Society notes that the book may even be followed from right to left, in keeping with the whimsical suggestion that mice often work counter-clockwise.
At its centre is the philosophical Painter Mouse, whose observations on art, pleasure, time, mortality, and cheese unfold through van Sandwyk’s characteristic combination of wit, tenderness, and visual refinement. The unusual accordion construction allows the entire narrative to open into a continuous sequence of images, making the book as much a small work of paper engineering and book art as a conventional illustrated story. The edition is now out of stock from the Folio Society and has become increasingly sought after on the secondary market, with fine copies offered substantially above the original publication price.
The author:
Charles van Sandwyk is a Canadian artist, author, calligrapher, and illustrator known for his finely detailed watercolours, anthropomorphic animals, and books inspired by the traditions of Arthur Rackham, Beatrix Potter, and the golden age of illustration. Born in South Africa and raised in Canada, he began producing his own artist books at a young age and has since become particularly admired among collectors of contemporary illustrated and fine-press books.
His work for the Folio Society includes celebrated editions of The Wind in the Willows, The Blue Fairy Book, Alice in Wonderland, and How to See Fairies. The Meaning of Mice distills many of the qualities most associated with his work into an unusually intimate object: delicate draughtsmanship, playful calligraphy, old-world craftsmanship, and a gentle, distinctly personal sense of humour.