1953 First Edition - The Fairy-Tale Omnibus Illustrated by Doreen Baxter

An attractive 1953 First Edition of this large-format fairy-tale anthology, bringing together classic stories by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen with six charming full-page colour illustrations and extensive decorative artwork by Doreen Baxter.

Author: Brothers Grimm; Hans Christian Andersen. Illustrated by Doreen Baxter.
Title: The Fairy-Tale Omnibus.
Publisher: London and Glasgow: Collins, 1953.
Edition: First Edition, as stated.
Language: English.
Pages: 128 pages.
Size: 10 x 8 inches.
Binding: Very good original pictorial boards with red cloth spine, the front cover retaining Baxter’s colourful fairy-tale design; light age toning and slight wear to corners and extremities, as shown. Binding firm and attractive.Protected in a removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good content, clean and complete overall, with only light age toning and occasional minor spotting consistent with age.
Illustrations: Complete with six full-page colour illustrations by Doreen Baxter, including the colour frontispiece, together with numerous black-and-white illustrations, decorative headings, borders and ornaments throughout.

Estimate: USD 150–175.

The book:
The Fairy-Tale Omnibus gathers fifteen enduring stories drawn from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. The Grimm selection includes Snow-White and Rose-Red, Hansel and Gretel, The Valiant Little Tailor, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, Snow-White and The Goose Girl, while Andersen is represented by such classics as The Red Shoes, The Constant Tin Soldier, The Wild Swans, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Tinder Box, The Little Mermaid and The Little Match Girl.

Issued by Collins in 1953, this First Edition is particularly appealing for its generous quarto format and the unusually extensive contribution of Doreen Baxter. Her six full-page colour plates are complemented by imaginative black-and-white title designs, vignettes and decorative borders that give the volume a cohesive storybook character throughout.

The illustrator:
Doreen Baxter was a British illustrator whose work appeared in a number of mid-twentieth-century children’s books and fairy-tale collections. Her style combines delicate line work with soft colour, theatrical costume and a distinctly traditional English storybook sensibility.

In this volume Baxter’s illustrations move easily between humour, fantasy and darker fairy-tale atmosphere. Particularly effective are her scenes for Snow-White, The Wild Swans, The Red Shoes and The Little Mermaid, while her elaborate chapter headings and decorative line drawings make this much more than a simple text anthology.