Book of Drawings by Fred Richardson
Chicago: Lakeside Press, 1899. Richardson, Fred. 1st ed. Hardcover. Folio gray boards printed in gray-green and red-brown. "Being a selection from those done for the Chicago Daily News." Unpaginated.
Richardson had a very long career in the book illustration field. His L. Frank Baum Queen Xixi of Ix (1905) is a classic, one of the finest of Baum's non-Oz titles. Richardson followed that initial work with many other book-illustration projects, including editions of the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop's Fables, Mother Goose, Pinocchio, and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, plus two volumes in the series of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. Richardson did abundant work for the Chicago publisher P. F. Volland; in illustrating collections of tales by Georgene Faulkner he varied his usual artistic style, imitating Japanese art for her Little Peachling and Other Tales of Old Japan (1928), and Indian art for her The White Elephant and Other Tales from Old India (1929).
But this book, published before all this work in children's books, shows an entirely different side of Richardson (1862-1937), albeit a fascinating one. His work here, collected from newspaper features, shows the influence of artists like Harrison Cady and Winsor McCay, with wonderful and inventive work. When very few artists were seeing their work collected, this handsome oversized edition attests to the recognition that Richardson was already an exceptional talent still in his 30s.
Light wear to tips and spine ends, very good plus. Item #37942
Price: $200.00