Fisherman's Luck; And Some Other Uncertain Things by Van Dyke, Henry; Armstrong, Margaret (Publisher's Binding Design) - 1905

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905. Hardcover. Near fine. Duodecimo size, 296 pp. The designs of Margaret Armstrong (1867-1944), utilising the Art Nouveau style and floral patterns, were a sensation in the publishing business; Armstrong created over 270 book designs, often for the works of well-known authors such as Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, and George Washington Cable. In addition to designing books, Armstrong wrote books as well, including a comprehensive guide to wildflowers in the American West, which she also illustrated.

"Fisherman's Luck" is a collection of essays by American author Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933), who also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxembourg; the book features a beautiful design using fish and sea plant motifs by Armstrong, with bright gilt fish swimming around the title on the front board.

___DESCRIPTION: Full dark blue cloth, gilt lettering and decorative design with sea motifs in green, light blue, and gilt, by Margaret Armstrong with her monogram on the front board, gilt lettering and decorations on the spine, top edge gilt, fore- and bottom edges rough cut, frontispiece a two-colour illustraton within a salmon-pink border, with tissue guard, title page in red and black, two-colour illustrations throughout, many signatures unopened; duodecimo size (7.75" by 5"), pagination: [i-xi] [1-2] 3-285.

___CONDITION: Volume is near fine, with clean boards, bright colours and gilt on the front board and spine, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a few spots of soiling to the boards, but overall clean, slight rubbing to the head and tail of the spine and to the corners, and corners are gently bumped, toning and off-setting to the front endpapers, and a couple spots of foxing to the rear flyleaves and endpapers.    

___CITATION: Gullans and Espey no. 281.

___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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