A Wonder Book Illustrated By Arthur Rackham [Hawthorne's Wonder Book] by Hawthorne, Nathaniel - 1922

Garden City, New York: George H. Doran Company, 1922. No date; circa 1922. Larger 8" x 9 7/8" x 2" design weighing over three lbs. Dark red buckram (cloth) boards, gilt cover titles and very detailed design, gilt spine titles w/Doran at heel, light shelf wear, clean. Front cover depicts wily satyr in tree shaking the leaves while children look on below. Pictorial endpapers of young lad and lady approaching tree w/silhouette in foreground of mercury atop pedestal and young satyr-like being sitting upon foundation. Pages near fine, clean; no writing. Stylish antiquarian bookplate inside cover of Nancy E. Lukens, passing in summer of 2019, with woodcut illustration of Chaucer among books on shelf: "On bokes for to rede I me delyte, And to hem yive I feyth and ful credence, And in myn herte have hem in reverence, So hertely, that ther is game noon, That fro my bokes maketh me to goon. - Chaucer". Frontispiece mounted color plate w/captioned tissue guard: "Pandora and Epimetheus". Illustrated with fifteen more full-color mounted plates printed in rich hues. Fine captioned tissue guards present. Also, an additional eight full-page duo-chromatic illustrations, many resembling a Japanese influence, with captions greatly enchance this volume. Variously sized b&w decorative headers and tailpieces throughout. Bind fine; hinges intact. Near fine very attractive example of fine book craftsmanship. Presented here are a half dozen of the classical myths rendered into very essential reading for children. A great freedom of treatment was necessary rendering these legends into malleable forms remaining same or similar in their essence having existed for the past two or three millennia. But, by their indestructibility are legitimate subjects for every age to clothe with its own garnish of manners and sentiment, and imbue with its own morality. In these fables of Hawthorne, they assume a Gothic or romantic guise and meeting the comprehension of children. It is only the artificial and complex that bewilder them, while their imaginative senses rise deep and high for elemental of these legends. Contents include: The Gorgon's Head; The Golden Touch; The Paradise of Children; The Three Golden Apples; The Miraculous Pitcher; The Chimaera. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. Constable Ltd. at the Edinburgh University Press. 207 pages. Insured post. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge who never repented of his actions involved in the witch trials . Nathaniel later added the "w" to his surname. He entered Bowdoin College and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe in 1828. He published several short stories in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody, worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community. Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works feature moral allegories with Puritan inspiration. His works are considered part of dark romanticism in the Romantic Movement and his themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, often with deep psychological complexity.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. Illus. by Rackham, Arthur. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.