Greenaway, Kate | An album of eighty-two original drawings

Greenaway, Kate

An album of original drawings, mostly child studies or botanical illustrations, with a few other subjects, many finely hand colored. Circa 1880-1890

82 original drawings, 32 of which are hand colored in watercolor, matted in 20 stiff card leaves (328 x 286 mm), each leaf with between 1 and 5 drawings, mounted on tabs with linen guards; very faint soiling to some of the mounts, around 5 of the drawings with very small spots. Bound in an album of full green crushed levant morocco, signed Riviere & Son, gilt titled front board, boards and spine compartments with gilt double-fillet borders, gilt spine with five raised bands, all edges gilt; a few scuffs to the boards, minor wear along the edges and corners, spine mildly sun-faded to a greenish brown.

A charming group of original sketches by the celebrated Victorian children’s book illustrator, Kate Greenaway. The drawings range in size from incredibly small to near full-page, and in completeness from unfinished pencil sketches to finely rendered outline drawings to fully colored artworks. The most impressive sketch shows a young girl in a green dress with flowers all around her, evidently one of Greenway’s favorite subjects, a flower procession.

PROVENANCE

Feodrovna Yorke Sturt (bookplate and pencil signature; the wife of Humphrey Napier Sturt, 2nd Baron Alington of Crichel) — Anderson Galleries, November 19 1931, lot 394 — Sotheby’s London, November 14 1932, lot 68 — Alain de Suzannet (bookplate) — Doris L. Benz (gilt blue leather book label; her collection sold at Christie's, November 16 1984, but this album does not appear to have been included) — unidentified monogrammed book label, “EHM,” printed on light blue paper