Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales
London: George Newnes, 1899. Stratton, Helen. 1st ed. Hardcover. Full blue cloth with gilt pictorial cover, beveled edges. Illustrated "with upwards of 400 illustrations by Helen Stratton." All edges gilt, heavy covers with beveled edges, cloth.
Lovely pictorial cover of swans in flight over water, using the blue of the cloth with gilt embossing. A stork and a frog are pictured on the wide spine.
Stratton worked her fingers off here, with fully finished illustrations numbering enough for several smaller books. Includes large sized illustrations in the text as well as full page plates. The princesses and witches and such are reminiscent of H.J. Ford's colored fairy books, but Stratton has a more inviting style that we find superior to Ford's work, as classic as it is.
Light foxing to the first few and last few pages. Spine ends and tips lightly bumped or rubbed but still an exceptionally bright copy of an very uncommon title. Near Fine. Item #30047
Price: $650.00