CHEWG-UM-BLEWG-UM by GAZE, HAROLD

GAZE, HAROLD. GAZE,HAROLD. THE CHEWG-UM-BLEWG-UM. Melbourne, Aukland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington and London: Whitcombe & Tombs Limited, [1919]. 4to (7 3/4 x 10"), [30]p., wraps, color plate on cover, string tie, 2 inconspicuous margin mends and some foxing, VG. Illustrated by Gaze with 2 tipped-in color plates (plus color plate on cover repeated in-text), 1 tipped-in black and white plate and 8 pen and ink drawings in-text all featuring a koala, a fairy and a strange animal with the body of an emu and a camel's head. The story is told in verse. This is one of 3 titles in the Mite Merry Series. Gaze was born in New Zealand and except for a short stint at art school in London, he was largely self-taught. He eventually moved to Pasadena where he did some work for the Disney Studio. Although he didn't illustrate a large number of books his work is distinctive and wonderful. Holden in Golden Age p. 80 notes about the books in this series that "by Australian standards these titles were milestones in the history of children's book production. Their large quarto format and pleasing typography and layout were indicative of the publisher's understandable enthusiasm and belief that a major new talent had arrived." Marcie Muir notes that "After Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, the artist who dominated the fairy genre in Australian children's books was Harold Gaze " (Hist. Aust. Child. Bks. p77). See Muir Bib. 2699. This is a nice copy of a rare book.