A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson - 1905

STEVENSON, Robert Louis. A Child's Garden of Verses. With Illustrations by Jessie Willcox Smith. London: Longmans Green and Co, 1905. 4to, xii 125pp. Navy cloth with spine stamped in gilt and color pictorial label affixed to front: t.e.g. Color pictorial endpapers; 13 color plates and numerous b&w illustrations. Upper spine end a bit worn and frayed, lower spine end a tad rubbed, lower corners a bit bumped, light discoloration at top of front cover, cover label a bit worn and lightly scratched with a few chips at top edge of label, previous owner's bookplate on front free endpaper, else an internally clean, tight copy with all color plates clean and bright.

First Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated edition, UK issue, the sheets having been printed in the US by the De Vinne Press of New York. First published without illustrations in 1885, "A Child's Garden of Verses", is a collection of sixty-five poems for children about darkness and solitude. Jessie Willcox Smith's delicate and powerful illustrations are perhaps the best known and definitely some of the most beautiful ever created for this classic collection of poetry.