ABC Dogs. by TICE, Clara - 1940

London: Wilfred Funk, Inc, 1940. First edition, first printing, in the scarce jacket. This charming book features a different breed of dog for each letter of the alphabet.
Clara Tice (1888-1973) was a notorious New York bohemian artist who began exhibiting her art from 1910. "Tice was apparently so highly regarded and so instantly recognizable as one of those 'queer artists' that her role in the first Greenwich Village Follies was simply to play herself. As 'Clara,' she stepped out onto the stage at the appointed time, outfitted in one of her typically bizarre bohemian ensembles, and conducted a 'quick chalk talk of nudes, bees and butterflies'" (Sawelson-Gorse, p. 429). Folio. Original blue cloth-back illustrated boards, front board lettered in red, white, blue, green, and black, illustrated endpapers. With the illustrated dust jacket. Illustrated throughout by Tice. Base of spine and front joint sunned, extremities rubbed. A very good copy in the jacket with loss to spine and a few large chips and tears, discreet repair along rear joint.