The Little Mermaid and Other Stories

New York / London: G. P. Putnam's Sons / Lawrence & Bullen, 1893. Hardcover. Very Good. 10" x 8" x 1.25. J. R. Weguelin. Published in 1893. Hardcover. Bound in half light brown leather and marbled paper. Rebacked spin is plain leather. Top edge gilt. Deckled foredge and foot. Marbled endpapers match the cover. Illustrations and plates throughout by J. R. Weguelin in black and white. Stories include: The Little Mermaid, The Tinderbox, Little Claus and Big Claus, A Real Princess, Little Ida's Flowers, The Naughty Boy, The Travelling Companion, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Marsh King's Daughter, The Swineherd, "She's Good for Nothing", The Story of the Year, The Rose Elf, The Buckwheat, There's the Difference, Thumbelisa, The Wicked Prince, The Wild Swann, The Garden of Eden, The Flying Trunk, The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Matchgirl, IB and Little Christina, Oli Lockeye, Danish Holger. xxiii, 384 pp. <br><br>EXCERPT FROM THE INTRODUCTION: "Hans Christian Andersen was born at Odense in Funen on the 2nd of April, 1805. His father was a cobbler, a sensitive, dreamy, fanciful nature with a strong taste for reading and a passion for building castles in the air. Hans Christian was, in these respects, his father's own child, and his peculiarities, set off as they were by an odd gawkiness and an almost comical ugliness, made the morbidly self-conscious lad a fair butt for his humble comrades, whose natural impulse was to ridicule whatever they could not understand. Fortunately for his own happiness, his self-confidence was always in excess of his shyness, and in his fourteenth year, shortly after being confirmed, he set out to seek his fortune at the capital. Here, for a time, he led a sort of vagabond life, picking up a trifle here and there, as best he could, and sustained by the fixed idea that his universal genius was bound to succeed in the long run. [...]" <br><br>CONDITION: Overall VG. Spine has been professionally rebacked. Cover shows external wear. Some chipping within endpapers. Unmarked except for an inscription on the front flyleaf dated "Xmas 1900". Hinges are strong and binding is sound. Some foxing throughout, yet text is uncompromised. Illustrations are delightful. An enchanting copy. Full refund if not satisfied.