The Circus and All About It
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, (1909). Smith, E. Boyd. Hardcover. Oblong quarto, 62 pp., with publisher's dust jacket. Near fine / good +. Item #CNJWEM072
Elmer Boyd Smith (1860-1943) studied art in Paris for several years before moving to the US. A prolific writer and illustrator (over seventy books) his work ranged from "the muted, mystery-laden palette and epic vision of French muralist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes to the dashing graphic shorthand of poster artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec" (n.b., quote from the web site of the Brooklyn Public Library).
This colourful picture book, with sixteen full-page colour illustrations and twenty-nine in black-and-white, show the circus as we all would want it to be: animals having fun with the circus performers, delighting and amazing the audiences.
Somewhat uncommon in the online marketplace with the dust jacket.
___DESCRIPTION: Pictorial boards with a blue cloth shelfback, pictorial endpapers, the colour frontispiece one of the sixteen bound in throughout; oblong quarto (11" wide by 8 5/8" tall), irregularly paginated with 62 total pages (counting the colour plates, which are printed on the recto only, and the plain verso in the page count). With the publisher's dust jacket, the front panel with several small vignettes and line drawings of circus animals, and lettering, all in blue; the back panel with a list of "The Fairy Series" published by Stokes, both flaps blank.
___CONDITION: Volume near fine, the boards mostly clean with just a few light, stray marks, straight corners with minimal rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior clean with minimal toning; prior owner markings include a gift inscription in a vintage hand on the front free endpaper and some marks in pencil on the recto of the rear free endpaper (likely a prior bookseller price and code); some wear to the board edges and light bumping to the head and tail of the spine. The dust jacket a bit better than good, with all component parts present and attached; restoration work was done at some point in the past to both hold together closed tears and fill in chips in the jacket (the largest of which is about two inches tall by the same in width - triangular in shape, there does seem to be some slight loss of lettering at the tail of the spine); minor overall soil and it is clear there was once considerable edgewear, however, having the jacket present is exceptional.
___CITATION: Baumgarten, Artist, p. 191.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.
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Price: $750.00