To Storyland with Louis Wain [Title on front board: "In Storyland with Louis Wain"]

London: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd, 1912. Hardcover. Good +. Folio size, [28] pp. English artist Louis Wain (1860-1939) is known for his trademark anthropomorphic cats, who live in a rich, vibrant world and display playful personalities amidst their alphabetised actions. According to H. G. Wells, "[Wain] has made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (n. b., quote from Wikipedia).

A large, folio-size book meant for young children (the publisher even printed "Untearable" on the front board) the pages are of stiff textured cardstock, each page with the title of the story or games the animals are playing at the top and a single sentence at the bottom. With twenty-four full-page, full-colour illustrations, plus four illustrations (the title page and three others) in red and black, plus colour illustrations on both boards.

Included are: "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Red Riding Hood", "Cinderella", "Setting the Fashion", "Pussies' Playtime", "Bluebeard", "The Sleeping Beauty", "Anxious Moments", "A Dog of the Age", "Hit", "A Catastrophe", "Sindbad the Sailor", "The Babes in the Wood", "On the Links", "Bowled Out", "Robin Hood", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Shower Bath", "My turn Now", "Jack the Giant Killer", "Claws and Paws", "The Forty Thieves", "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp", the final colour illustration untitled, showing a mother cat with her three kittens decorating the Christmas tree.

Uncommon in the online marketplace, as of this writing we see only one other copy online.

___DESCRIPTION: Paper-covered boards with full-colour illustrations by Wain with a red cloth shelfback, patterned endpapers, bound by use of large staples, the first and final leaf with the four red-and-black illustrations (the first being the title page), the twelve full-colour leaves bound between; folio size (13 3/8" by 9 7/8"), [28] pp.

___CONDITION: Better than good, the boards mostly clean with a few light, stray spots, the stapled binding strong with all pages firmly attached, the interior mostly clean (a few scattered smudges) and the colour illustrations bright, with all twenty-four colour illustrations present as called for (not counting the two on the boards); the red cloth shelfback sunned and showing wear including several pin-head size holes, the corners mildly bumped and beginning to rub, the rear hinge solid and the front hinge starting (approx. 2.5" tear at the top), the front board shaken but still attached, a vintage gift inscription (in pencil) on the verso of the front free endpaper, with the recipient's name written several times (again in pencil) on the front free endpaper, and what appears to be a short closed tear to the top margin of "Bowled Out" (visible on one side of the leaf only); even with its faults, still a solid, readable copy, complete, of a Wain title uncommon in the marketplace.

___CITATION: Dale, p. 139, which lists the title as "In Story Land with Louis Wain".

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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