Edmund Dulac's Fairy-Book. Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations by [Dulac, Edmund illustrator] - 1916

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1916. First trade edition. Original tan cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, blue and black to form a design of two leaping horses and scroll frame for gilt lettering (reproducing the design on the title-page) on front cover and spine. Decorative endpapers. Original color printed dust jacket with a reproduction of the color plate facing page 16 in the book. Spine of dust jacket with minimal tape strengthening at foot and lower edge of front fold. Large quarto (10 3/4 x 8 3/8 inches; 273 x 213 mm.). [11], [1, blank], 169, [1], [1, blank], [1, printer's imprint] pp. Fifteen color plates, mounted on stiff cream paper, framed with wide gilt bands and with descriptive letterpress in black. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket.

"The tales of this book, both written and illustrated by Dulac, were drawn from the folklore of Russia, England, Flanders, Belgium, Italy, France, Ireland, Serbia and Japan. Dulac was able to employ the full scope of his versatility in creating a national mood in each illustration. During this period of his work, Dulac had immersed himself in the artistic traditions of folklore. He was partly stimulated by his friendship with Yeats (whose interest in Celtic folklore was legendary) and partly awakened to ethnic themes by his 1913 cruise through the eastern Mediterranean. Also at this time he was influenced by his encounters with the Russian-born designer Léon Bakst and Bakst's stage work for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes" (Hughey).

Hughey 47a.