Fine Books and Manuscripts

8vo (212 x 175 mm). Decorated title-page, 4 illustrated plates by C.H. Shannon, numerous illustrations throughout by C. Ricketts. (Some light spotting.) Original green and tan cloth decorated in red and gold, uncut, decorated endpapers after Ricketts (soiled, some light wear to joints and spine ends). FIRST EDITION, with plates printed in Paris using an "improved" method. After the book was finished, each plate had a dusty deposit: "each plate was rubbed with soft flannel, which removed the surface and left the reproductions faint and in some cases almost obliterated" (Mason, p.365).