THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE

PRINT BOOK PLATE ARABIAN NIGHTS

EDMUND DULAC ART NOUVEAU 1923

The book’s antique 1923 paper page is tanned and has a little bit of extra paper on the left edge from book’s seam. This print also has a bit of ragged edge with extra paper on the left side that’s easily trimmed. This print has a crease from the left center downward into the print. It measures 4 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches. The book page is 6 x 8 3/4 inches. See photos.

An ancient tale in the tradition of The Arabian Nights, The Magic Horse follows the wondrous adventures of young Prince Tambal. Considered a dreamer as opposed to his brother, Tambal is intrigued by a wooden horse that others dismiss as a mere plaything, but is really a finely carved magical horse.

Title: Stories from the Arabian Nights

Publisher: George H. Doran Co., New York

Publication Date: 1923

I HAVE MORE DULAC BOOK PLATE PRINTS FOR SALE IN MY STORE.

Dulac (1882–1953) was a French-born, British naturalised magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer.

An illustrated version of the Arabian classic, Dulac's watercolors capture the spirit of the Arabian Nights.

With these types of illustrations, children’s books became items of beauty that adults collected as emblems of affluence and good taste.

A new technology of color separation made it cheaper to print color book plates, resulting in a genre of gift books where tipped on color plates were placed between pages as “gifts” rather than being bound into the spine. Dulac was dominant in this genre—as a colorist fascinated with pigments, patterns and Eastern traditions. Bright jewel patterns that radiated and sparkled fired his imagination. He was drawn toward mysticism, the occult and exotic.

Since art school, he’d been fascinated by the East and Arabic languages, intrigued by written Arabic characters. Nocturnal scenes in The Ara­bian Nights let him use rich blues—ultramarine, Prussian blue, indigo, violets and purples—creating magical, translucent textures, starry nights sparkling with saturated watercolor pigments.

The watercolor book plates were reproduced in yellow, red and blue inks, which were overlaid onto a black key plate. Dulac’s suffused watercolor technique was well-suited for this. In reproduction, the initial ink drawing was covered by three successive layers of printing inks, muting the ink line into one that was no longer truly black. This process enhanced Dulac’s soft illustra­tions and contributed to his renown as a colorist. His palette moved from blues to a bold, orientally influenced range of colors. His watercolors had dreamlike atmospheres, adding mystery and magic.

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