Fairy Theme from Rare Illustrated Books

A rare offering of a beautiful watercolour by Pixie O'Harris painted to illustrate the publication "Pearl Pinkie and Sea Greenie" (Angus & Robertson, 1935) Early works such as this one rarely come to market. Pixie O'Harris's second book, "Pearl Pinkie and Sea Greenie: The Story of Two Little Rock-Sprites" is a dainty example of magical storytelling, a vibrant and exciting underwater… Read more about this item

London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1925. First Edition. The Merry Piper is an exuburant and rambling adventure by Harold Gaze (1885-1962). Born in New Zealand, Gaze came to Melbourne in 1918 and stayed until 1921, producing a vast quantity of high quality work during a short space of time. He published four books in 1919 alone. Many of the… Read more about this item

Come away, O human child To the waters and the wild With a fairy, hand in hand..." -W.B. Yeats A charming drawing by Ethel Jackson Morris, inscribed with a passage of poetry by William Butler Yeats. A school of fantasy illustration emerged in Melbourne in the first part of the twentieth century, inspired by the work and… Read more about this item

Melbourne: John Wyatt, 1909. First Edition. The author's first book, published at age seventeen, contains four stories, one poem and her illustrations in the manner of her contemporary Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. Ethel Jackson Morris contributed to Dame Neilie Melba's Gift Book of Australian Art and Literature in 1915, published one other book in 1921, exhibited her work in Melbourne… Read more about this item

London: A. & C. Black, 1911. Greenaway, Kate. With an introduction by M. H. Spielmann. "If ever there was a beautiful soul, it was the soul of Kate Greenaway." Large octavo, bound in decorated green boards with colour pictorial onlay, fifteen colour plates tipped-in, a nice copy of a charming little book.

Chicago: Rand McNally & Co, 1911. First Edition. First edition of this surprisingly scarce Rand McNally publisher's catalogue with a focus on illustrated children's books and classic literature. With colour plates by Lucy Fitch Perkins for 'The Enchanted Peacock' by Julia Brown, Grace Chandler Horn for 'Hiawatha' by Henry W. Longfellow, Hope Dunlap for 'The Rose Fairies'… Read more about this item

London: William Heinemann, 1909. Very good. Rackham, Arthur. One of the less common of Rackham's works and a beautiful example from the Golden Age of Illustration. It tells of a water-sprite, Undine, who can gain an immortal soul only through marriage to a mortal. The tale is ideally suited to Rackham's art nouveau style, capturing, as he… Read more about this item

London: George G Harrop and Co. Ltd, 1933. Signed Limited Edition. Fine. A limited edition of 460 signed by Rackham. An inspired anthology drawn from "old favourites of the nursery...Most of them had a long and eventful life of oral tradition before somebody who could write caught them as they flew and consigned them to cold print"… Read more about this item

Melbourne: Melbourne Publishing Company, 1919. First Edition. First edition, with beautiful colour plates by the author. Gaze was one of the most prolific authors of books for children in this period, and this fantasy about the adventures of a small girl in a world where she meets people such as the Clerk of the Weather and the South Wind… Read more about this item

Sydney: The Sunday Sun, 1946. Contains a variety of cartoons, including 'Bib and Bub' by May Gibbs (half page) and Bancks timeless Ginger Meggs (whole page). Eight page tabloid newspaper insert (305x380mm) printed in colour, a few marginal tears and chips but in remarkably good condition for an item of this age and nature (has not browned).

Copenhagen: Ernst Bojesen Det Nordiske Forlag, 1900. TEGNER, Hans. Verdensudgave illustreret af Hans Tegner med en karakteristik af H.C. Andersen som eventyrforfatter af Georg Brandes." "The Adventures of Hans Christian Andersen" illustrated by Hans Tegner, Professor at the Danish Academy of Fine Arts and artistic director from 1907 to 1932 of the internationally acclaimed porcelain factory, Bing &… Read more about this item

Sydney: The Sunday Sun, 1946. Contains a variety of cartoons, including 'Bib and Bub' by May Gibbs (half page) and Bancks timeless Ginger Meggs (whole page). Eight page tabloid newspaper insert (305x380mm) printed in colour, in excellent condition.

Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1921. Joyce Dennys. A collection of short nature tales that capture the spirit of the Australian bush. Home reviewed the new edition of Amy Mack's Bushland Stories in December 1921 and praised the 'entirely new illustrations in colour and black and white by Joyce Dennys... so admirably suited to their subjects, so beautiful in… Read more about this item

London: A. & C Black, 1930. First edition. OUTHWAITE, Ida Rentoul. Although enthusiastically received on its release, this was to be the last of Outhwaite's major illustrated books: the onset of the Depression meant that few people could afford these luxurious books. Muir, 5605. First edition, quarto, original decorative boards with blue cloth spine, illustrated with colour plates throughout.… Read more about this item

Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1922. 'Today these booklets are generally regarded as children's items, but in their day they were issued in individual envelopes and were intended to be used as enlarged greeting cards... their contribution to the Australian pictorial propaganda of the First World War was pervasive and amusing and remains perhaps the only such work to survive… Read more about this item

London: A. & C. Black Ltd, 1937. First Edition. Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. Story of a little sheperdess called Perdita who loses a flock of sheep owned by the king. Beautifully illustrated by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. Octavo, bound in the original blue cloth boards, 180 mm x 120 mm, 64 pages, 4 coloured plates, missing dust wrapper, a very good… Read more about this item

New York: Garden City Publishing, 1932. NIELSEN, Kay. Nielsen's subtle and symbolic paintings and artwork embellish Andersen's immortal tales. Large octavo, original red cloth with colour pictorial onlay, 273 pp., 8 colour plates, vignettes and decorations and full-page black & white illustrations throughout, decorated endpapers, previous owner's name on front endpaper, a near fine copy.

Melbourne: Allan & Co, 1941. Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul. A fresh and attractive Australian songbook for young children. Each of the twelve songs composed by Bronnie Taylor and Edith Harrhy are accompanied by a suite of lovely, playful sketches by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. Interestingly, it is not recorded as Outhwaite's work in Marcie Muir's comprehensive bibliography of Australian Children's Books… Read more about this item

Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1933. First Edition. OUTHWAITE, Ida Rentoul. Rare first edition with original dust jacket. Verse and illustration by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. A dramatic stylistic shift from her body of work up until this point, Ouhtwaite's "Bunch of Wild Flowers" follows in the tradition of Margaret Tarrant and Cicely Mary Baker's little books of poetry illustrated with… Read more about this item

London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1899. Lancelot SPEED.. An attractive book complete with full scripts, directions for dances, ideas for costume design, stage directions, and sheet music for the following performances: Ali Baba, or the Forty Thieves; Rumpelstiltzkin; Red Riding Hood; Beauty and the Beast; Jack and the Beanstalk; Cinderella; Foolish Jack; The Golden Goose; The Tinder-Box; The Three… Read more about this item