Vanity Fair; A Novel Without a Hero by Thackeray, William Makepeace; Chesterton, G.K. (Introduction); Austen John (Illustrator) - 1931

Oxford: The Limited Editions Club [printed by the Oxford University Press], 1931. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Very Good Plus. Austen, John. Two volumes (complete), no. 183 of 1500 copies, quarto size, 798 total pp., signed by John Austen. This Limited Editions Club publication of William Makepeace Thackeray's (1811-1863) best-known work, "Vanity Fair", contains line drawings by English illustrator John Austen (1886-1948), who illustrated many books such as "Hamlet", "Tristram Shandy", and "Madame Bovary"; his style was at first influenced by Aubrey Beardsley and was later shaped by the Art Deco movement. Austen visualises the delicate relationships between the characters in these ethereal drawings, each hand-coloured by Daniel Jacomet. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), an inimitable man of letters who wrote on a variety of subjects from Christian apologetics to detective novels, provides the introduction to this edition of Thackeray's work, examining the different readings of Thackeray over time, as well as the use of satire to shed light on various aspects of society. ___DESCRIPTION: Quarter magenta cloth with patterned paper boards in orange, green, and black, gilt lettering on the spine, fore- and bottom edges uncut, endpapers with the same pattern as the boards, frontispiece a line drawing in black by John Austen, with hand-colouring by Daniel Jacomet, title page with black-and-white illustration by Austen, full-page line drawings in black by Austen, with hand-colouring by Jacomet, throughout both volumes, Volume One with vintage bookseller's ticked on the rear pastedown of Philip C. Duschnes, New York; monotype Baskerville, Arches mouldmade paper, quarto size (11.75" by 7.75"), pagination: Volume One: [i-v] vi-xx [1] 2-365; Volume Two: [i-v] [366-367] 368-772 [1 colophon], one of 1500 copies, this number 183, signed by John Austen on the colophon in Volume Two. In a patterned paper dust jacket matching the boards, with a grey paper label with line drawing in black by Austen on the front panel, and grey paper spine label with black lettering and illustration. Housed in a slipcase covered in papter with the same pattern as the boards, with a beige paper spine label with black lettering and yellow and pink embellishments. ___CONDITION: Volumes are near fine, with clean boards, straight corners, strong, square text blocks, the interiors are clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; the front hinge of Volume One is tender but the board is securely attached (the other hinges all solid), the bottom corners of Volume One slightly rubbed, both volumes with light off-setting to the free endpapers. The dust jackets are very good plus, unclipped, but no printed price present, clean with bright colours on the panels, the spines slightly sunned and with light overall edgewear, mostly to the heads and tails of the spines. The slipcase is very good, strong and sturdy, with some overall soiling, minor wear to the paper surrounding the opening, and there is internal evidence (old cello tape) of some prior owner repair to the slipcase. ___CITATION: LEC no. 22. ___POSTAGE: Please note that this is a large and heavy set, and therefore additional postage will apply; 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.