Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1912. Hardcover. Overall in very good condition. A beautifully illustrated novel by James M. Barrie, meant for art collectors as well as children, with its unsurpassed illustrations by Arthur Rackham. First published in 1906 it is one of four major works by Barrie featuring Peter Pan. The color art work in this volume and the full color plates for Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, brought Arthur Rackham, previously noted for his black and white pen and ink fantasy illustrations, the public attention he so thoroughly deserved. This is a reprint of the 1906 edition but with the addition of a new color frontispiece and seven full page b&w drawings (Latimore & Haskell, p40).

The book includes fifty full page, tipped in dramatic color illustrations all with guard sheet printed with descriptive letterpress in the lower left corner, and twelve b&w drawings in the text. The illustrations are in fine condition.

Large 4to, color frontispiece, 126pp, 50 color plates, 7 b&w illustrations, 12 b&w ills in text. Green cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, with the front board and spine lavishly decorated with fairies, roosters, and borders intertwined with roses. In the original pictorial dust jacket with a large color illustration at the front panel. The dust jacket with a water mark on foredge front and back, now preserved with mylar cover. The dust jacket hinge is cracked leaving the front cover detached from the spine, but with the mylar wrapper it holds together nicely. Book seller label at bottom of front paste down, Book Lovers Library Melbourne. OCLC: 48034022.