Merry Words for Merry Children.
London & New York: W. Hagelberg, [1889- 1899, the New York Warehouse opened in 1889.], printed by W. Hagelberg in Berlin; ivory glazed card, yellow edges all around,, rounded corners; on the front, pugs in descending sizes seated on blue green cushions read the newspaper with their glasses on; on the back, three kittens in bonnets seated on red cushions sew little shirtwaists; single signature sewn in two large stitches with thin dark gilt cord; sepia titles, each spread has a fine chromolithograph facing sepia rhymes with decorated titles; oblong 12 x 8cm; np. Toploader small softcover story.
Two stories in this little book, told in rhyme and delicate illustrations. The first, Jim's Dream, is not all that merry. In a nightmare, clown loving Jim becomes a cruel clown and tortures reluctant geese who finally turn on him and roast him on a spit. The second story The Race has elegant animals (frogs, greyhounds, rabbits, and cats) riding high wheeled bicycles diagonally across the page with a phrase from the story beneath. The solemn pug judges, now in top hats, each follow one animal, though the rabbits, who were unfairly handicapped with carrying the dinners, "rode off with the food to the woods." The last page has a drawing of a warmly dressed boy with his dog selling a very dead goose for 2/6 (can't read currency). He has something like a very large meat injector hanging around his waist. Beautiful chromos by Wolff Hagelberg, one of the leading fine art printers from about 1860 to 1890s.
CONDITION: Good Plus; small neat owner name on title page margin, cord stitching tight and not pulling through card, pages in line, rounded corners remain nice, yellow edges clean, 1/8" tear at spine top, tiny spot on front margin, 1/2" spot on rear, another extending to last page; moisture tide mark and light crease visible only on inside of back cover. Item #21902
Price: $345.00