Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Hawthorne, Nathaniel; illustrated by Arthur Rackham. A WONDER BOOK. George H. Doran, New York, 1922.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: (1922) No date. A Very Good copy. 4to., 206, (1) pp., illustrated with tipped in color illustrations to plates. Red cloth with gilt titles. Front hinge starting. Spine sunned, with lettering faded.Previous owner's neat signature on a front end paper.
Seller: Frey Fine Books, Rougemont, NC, U.S.A.
Price: US$97.50 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: A large octavo of 6-1/2 X 9-1/4 inches. There is a stub opposite page 168, but by our count all text pages and illustrations are present as called for (albeit without tissue guards) -- the 16 tipped-in Rackham color plates including frontispiece, and the 8 other full pages. This 1922 edition famously bears no printed date, though this copy does display two handwritten Christmas 1923 gift inscriptions from "Auntie Vanny" to previous owner Barbara Wood. Gilt titling and decorations to front board still visible though considerably dulled. Original illustrated endpapers; white mark (3/4-inch X 2 inches) to rear board -- possibly white paint. NO dust jacket. 207 pp. Reduced from $115.
Seller: Cat's Curiosities, Pahrump, NV, U.S.A.
Price: US$124.95 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Undated but 1922, as published. First American trade edition. 207 pages, with 24 color plates by Arthur Rackham. 16 of the plates of tipped in, as required. Collated and complete. Fading to spine of dust jacket and partial split to front hinge. Jacket now protected in mylar. One short tear to a blank page in volume, without loss. A beautiful copy.
Seller: A Book By Its Cover, Louisville, KY, U.S.A.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 6 3/4 in. x 9 1/2 in., half-title; mounted color frontispiece by Arthur Rackham; printed title-page with Rackham decoration; preface, contents, list of plates. [i]-xii, pp. I-[207]. Illustrated with 16 mounted color plates, and 8 other full-page illustrations, printed in several colors (some to resemble Japanese prints), and 21 other, various size black & white drawings used as decorative head & tail-pieces; a total of 24 color illustrations. The lower margin of the mounting page for the tipped-in color plate at page 10: Danae, shows 2 vertical splits to the paper, not affecting the mounted plate. Orange-red cloth with titling gilt on the spine and front cover, with a gilt Rackham design on the front cover; decorated endpapers with a Rackham design printed in brown. Christmas gift inscription on the reverse of the front decorated endpaper: For Lorraine Christmas 1923-M.I.L.D; the ink from this has left a small stain on the facing half-title. The gold lettering on the spine has faded, with light wear to spine ends, cover corners; a few page or mounting page margins show tan spots; text and plates are generally clean. "American Edition: This edition is bound in orange-red cloth with pictorial stamping in gold on the cover and gold lettering on the front cover and spine. This edition is the same as the English trade edition with the exception of the binding. Published by George H. Doran Company, New York. No date, but published in 1922." (-Latimore & Haskell: Rackham Bibliography, 1936; p. 55). Weight: 2 1/2 lbs.
Seller: Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Inc., Brecksville, OH, U.S.A.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: No date; circa 1922. Larger 7" x 9 1/2" x 1 1/2" design weighing nearly 2 1/2 lbs. Dark red buckram (cloth) boards, gilt cover titles and very detailed design, toned spine titles w/Doran at heel, moderate shelf wear, discoloration. Front cover depicts wily satyr in tree shaking the leaves while children look on below. Pictorial endpapers of young lad and lady approaching tree w/silhouette in foreground of mercury atop pedestal and young satyr-like being sitting upon foundation. Pages very good; one line underscored in red crayon near front of volume. Stylish antiquarian inscription at half-title page: "Merry Christmas to Frances from Margaret, 1925." Frontispiece mounted color plate: "Pandora and Epimetheus". Illustrated with fifteen additional full-color mounted plates printed in rich hues. Also, an additional eight full-page duo-chromatic illustrations, many resembling a Japanese influence, with captions greatly enchancing this volume. Variously sized b&w decorative headers and tailpieces throughout. Bind good, intact. Attractive example of fine book craftsmanship with geniune mounted plates. Presented here are a half dozen of the classical myths rendered into very essential reading for children. A great freedom of treatment was necessary rendering these legends into malleable forms remaining same or similar in their essence having existed for the past two or three millennia. But, by their indestructibility are legitimate subjects for every age to clothe with its own garnish of manners and sentiment, and imbue with its own morality. In these fables of Hawthorne, they assume a Gothic or romantic guise and meeting the comprehension of children. It is only the artificial and complex that bewilder them, while their imaginative senses rise deep and high for elemental of these legends. Contents include: The Gorgon's Head; The Golden Touch; The Paradise of Children; The Three Golden Apples; The Miraculous Pitcher; The Chimaera. Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. Constable Ltd. at the Edinburgh University Press. 207 pages. Insured post. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge who never repented of his actions involved in the witch trials . Nathaniel later added the "w" to his surname. He entered Bowdoin College and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe in 1828. He published several short stories in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody, worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community. Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works feature moral allegories with Puritan inspiration. His works are considered part of dark romanticism in the Romantic Movement and his themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, often with deep psychological complexity. Size: 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Description: viii, 207 [1] pp. With tipped-in color plates and printed tissue overleaves; other color plates; and text illustrations in black and white by Arthur Rackham. 4to, publisher's red cloth in dust jacket. First American edition. A beautiful copy in a jacket with a slightly faded spine, a few tiny chips and tears, and several unobtrusive spots.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.