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The Sensitive Plant

The Sensitive Plant

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The Sensitive Plant

by Shelley, Percy Bysshe; Robinson, Charles (Illustrator); Gosse, Edmund (Introduction)

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Near fine/very good
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Walnut Creek, California, United States
Item Price
£794.97
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About This Item

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1911. First Trade Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. Robinson, Charles. First U.S. trade edition as illustrated by Robinson, quarto size, [128] pp., in original dust jacket. Percy Bysshe Shelley's (1792-1822) "The Sensitive Plant" is a delicate fairy fable about ephemeral beauty and the aspiration to follow dreams when the reality of the senses fails. It was first published in 1820 in "Prometheus Unbound" along with some of Shelley's best known work; here it is re-imagined with the hazy watercolour illustrations of prolific children's book illustrator Charles Robinson (1870-1937). Though paired with Shelley long after his death, they are well matched, "his black and white illustration reflects the influence of Beardsley and Walter Crane, and his watercolour illustrations have delicacy and sensitivity, greatly helped by the four colour process early in the century as the alternative to lithography. By incorporating lettering into the page design, and in his planning of the book as a whole, he developed the Arts and Crafts tradition of the book as a work of art" (Peppin, Brigid & Micklethwait, Lucy, "Book Illustrators of the Twentieth Century," p. 265).

This edition of "The Sensitive Plant" certainly exemplifies that ideal of the artist's hand in all aspects of a book's design, with a beautifully composed typeface, decorative borders, pale pink page numbers, and stunning full-color mounted plates. With an introduction by Edmund William Gosse (1849-1928), a poet and author who was influential in the literary world of his day, encouraging the careers of Yeats and James Joyce, he served as the librarian of the House of Lords and a lecturer at Trinity College, eventually serving as the literary editor for the 1911 edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica".

___DESCRIPTION: Original full green cloth with gilt pictorial upper board and backstrip, top edge gilt, illustrated endpapers, illustrated half-title, pictorial title-page, first page of the introduction framed in a pictorial border with a large decorative initial, eighteen mounted color plates with tissue guards (including frontis), numerous color and black and white vignettes in text, headpieces, tailpieces, and initials; quarto size (10.5" by 8"), pagination: [i-vi] vii-xii [xiii-xvi] 17-127 [128], the first trade edition as illustrated by Robinson, vintage bookseller's ticket on rear paste-down endpaper (Brentano's, New York). With the scarce original pictorial dust jacket which matches the illustration on the endpapers, which is unclipped although, as was the general practice of the day, with no printed price.

___CONDITION: A near fine copy, internally bright and complete with only a few, light stray marks, no prior owner markings (other than the bookseller's ticket referred to above), the text block is slightly cocked yet remains strong, with solid hinges, and the gilt covers are marvelously bright and clean; note that the register was slightly off on the decorative title page, the illustrations are perfect; just a hint of rubbing to the head and tail of the backstrip and to one corner, this copy is near fine; the dust jacket is very good plus, clean with only a few small chips at the edges, and a small tear along one joint, none of which obscures the text or illustrations; overall very good, and scarce as such. A stunning production of a lovely children's tale.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.

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Details

Bookseller
Swan's Fine Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
17110604
Title
The Sensitive Plant
Author
Shelley, Percy Bysshe; Robinson, Charles (Illustrator); Gosse, Edmund (Introduction)
Illustrator
Robinson, Charles
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Near fine
Jacket Condition
very good
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Trade Edition
Publisher
J. B. Lippincott Co
Place of Publication
Philadelphia
Date Published
1911
Weight
0.00 lbs
Keywords
Illustrated Books, Charles Robinson, Fairy, Fairies, Fairy Tale, Bookseller's Ticket - Brentano's, TA-VBF-2022

Terms of Sale

Swan's Fine Books

We cheerfully accept returns for any reason within 30 days, so long as the book(s) is/are returned in the same condition as when sent. We will refund the price you paid for the book, plus shipping if the book was misdescribed.

About the Seller

Swan's Fine Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2017
Walnut Creek, California

About Swan's Fine Books

Swan's Fine Books specializes in Fine Press, Illustrated Books, and Books About Books. We also carry a wide array of general antiquarian stock and recently acquired a very nice collection of modern lit. Enjoy browsing our web site and visit our brick-and-mortar shop if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Tail
The heel of the spine.
ABAA
...
Quarto
The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Rubbing
Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Cocked
Refers to a state where the spine of a book is lightly "twisted" in such a way that the front and rear boards of a book do not...
Paste-down
The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an...
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Top Edge Gilt
Top edge gilt refers to the practice of applying gold or a gold-like finish to the top of the text block (the edges the pages...
IOBA
...
Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Title Page
A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
New
A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
ILAB
...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Text Block
Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....

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