Crane, Walter — Brothers Grimm (Lucy Crane, trans.) | With 12 original drawings

Crane, Walter — Brothers Grimm (Lucy Crane, trans.)

Household Stories. London: Macmillan & Co., 1880

Large 8vo (245 x 150 mm). Uncut. Interleaved with 12 original pen and pencil drawings by Walter Crane, being five full-page plates and seven head- and tail-pieces; a few instances of finger-soiling, minor marginal toning to text leaves. Publisher's green cloth, covers with double gilt rules, spine gilt-lettered; extremities very lightly rubbed, minor browning and staining to endleaves.

First edition, with twelve original drawings by Walter Crane—a large paper copy.

Crane is now regarded as the most influential children's book creator of his generation, and the present illustrations are some of the most celebrated in fairy tale history. Representing a departure from his usual aesthetic, they were darker in their tone, and it was this work that finally allowed Crane to reach an older audience. Borrowing from the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts movement, the parallels between his fully decorated pages and William Morris’s future publications through the Kelmscott Press can clearly be drawn. With their full-page bordered and lettered images, head- and tail-pieces, and pictorial initials, the present work is regarded as one of Crane's finest achievements.

REFERENCES

Gregory R. Suriano, The British Pre-Raphaelite Illustrators (London: Oak Knoll), 271