The Faerie Queene. Spenser's Faerie Queene. A Poem in Six Books with the Fragment Mutabilitie by Edmund Spenser, Thomas Wise [editor] - 1897

London : George Allen , 1897 A very good set of the special limited edition of 1000 copies, printed at the Chiswick Press by Charles Whittingham on hand-made paper, and illustrated with complex designs and images by Walter Crane. Published in parts over 3 years from 1894 - 6, this was a huge undertaking and is judged to be one of Crane's best works. Complete in 6 volumes in the original cream coloured cloth with gilt designs and red titles to front board, gilt titles to spine, and red design to back board. Top edges gilt, remainder untrimmed. Each volume has the original rose-coloured part wrap bound in at the beginning and end. The bindings are in very good clean condition with the occasional very light mark. The bottom edges are occasionally darkened, particularly at the corners and spine end. Vol I has a light bump to the top edge of the back board close to the spine. Internally the contents are in very good to near fine clean condition with just the occasional small spot or mark. Pages tend to darken slightly at the untrimmed edges. All the endpapers have light spotting and there is a very small damaged area to the front endpaper joint of Vol III. Vols II and III have a very light speckle in the paper in some sections. Vol IV has a brown mark at the page edge of pp 871-4 and circa 900-907, 944-6. Vol V has a small paper flaw in the rear pastedown endpaper. The collation is complicated and the set is substantial - please enquire if you would like further details and additional images to the 5 that are posted with the book.