{"product_id":"hans-andersen-s-fairy-tales-first-rie-cramer-edition-in-brilliant-gilt-cloth","title":"Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales - Rie Cramer’s Brilliantly Illustrated Golden Age Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eANDERSEN, Hans Christian. \u003cem\u003eHans Andersen’s Fairy Tales.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLondon: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, undated [c. 1921].\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst Rie Cramer edition, first impression. Royal octavo. Original olive-green cloth, the upper board and spine elaborately blocked in gilt and colours; untrimmed edges; pictorial endpapers; 349 pages. Illustrated by Rie Cramer with a colour frontispiece and sixteen further mounted colour plates, and by L. A. Govey with black-and-white illustrations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn outstanding example, retaining brilliant gilt and strong turquoise, blue, red and tan colouring across the upper board and spine. The binding forms a work of illustration in itself, with its landscape of horsemen beneath a great tree continuing into further scenes along the spine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book belongs to the closing years of the Golden Age of Illustration, when fine printing, decorative bindings and commissioned artwork combined to create books of exceptional visual richness. Cramer’s delicately coloured plates unite fairy-tale romance with the cleaner line and restrained palette of early Art Deco, while Govey’s monochrome drawings punctuate the text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe collection gathers thirty-two stories, including \u003cem\u003eThe Wild Swans\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThumbelina\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Snow Queen\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Little Mermaid\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Emperor’s New Clothes\u003c\/em\u003e. Andersen’s tales were internationally celebrated generations before their adaptation for cinema. They remain a cornerstone of world children’s literature, shaping the modern literary fairy tale and leaving an enduring imprint upon art, theatre and popular culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProvenance: Anne G. Jaques, pictorial bookplate; later inscribed Anne G. Cookson, presumably the same owner after marriage. Minor age-related wear and toning are shown in the photographs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hans Andersen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53289843261707,"sku":null,"price":500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0794\/7848\/9355\/files\/20260805_083049235_iOS.jpg?v=1786028479","url":"https:\/\/www.archbooks.co.uk\/products\/hans-andersen-s-fairy-tales-first-rie-cramer-edition-in-brilliant-gilt-cloth","provider":"Arch Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}