GREEN WILLOW AND OTHER JAPANESE FAIRY TALES

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1910. Very good.. Deluxe large paper edition, limited to 500 copies, featuring Japanese folk tales gathered by a Tokyo-born British woman. Grace James was the daughter of a British Naval officer born in Tokyo while her father was stationed there. She grew up in Japan until age 12; in the introductory note, James explains that many of the tales in this book are "relics of childish days, originally heard from the lips of a school-fellow or a nurse." James also drew on traditional sources like the Kojiki ("Record of Ancient Matters"), a central work for ancient Japanese mythology. This work is a remarkable example of the influence of japonisme in early 20th-century English book production. Golden Age artist Goble was Macmillan's favored illustrator for their gift books, many of which were deluxe reprints of classic fairy tales similar to this one. Quarto. 11'' x 8.5''. Original full gilt-stamped vellum, original yellow silk ties. Top edge gilt, other edges uncut. Illustrated by Goble with 40 magnificent tipped-in color plates mounted on heavy stock, including printed tissue guards. xii, 281, [1] pages. Some soil and rubbing to vellum, with tiny repaired tear to head of spine; hinges expertly repaired. Internally clean and fine.