It is the most desirable form of this book.
Rare and highly desirable.
Still bound in the original Publisher's binding.
THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK. Nicely illustrated by H.J. Ford.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co.,
Printed in 1892.
First edition, Large Paper edition, one of 150 numbered copies (#137).
This is a very large book. Large octavo. Very scarce large paper limited edition of Lang's famous and sought after Green Fairy collection.
Bound in the publisher's white faux-vellum spine over paper covered boards. Page edges untrimmed.
Previous owner's leather bookplate to the front pastedown, with just a hint of a ghost from the bookplate on the front flyleaf, which also has a vintage ink gift inscription.
The boards are worn, with the corners showing, a small bump to the top edge of the rear board, and the front gutter just a bit split, with a short tear to the spine head and some mild soiling.
Three pages with closed marginal tears not affecting text, with old tape over those closed tears.
The binding has some splits and tears.
Still this book is the most affordable copy available.
There were only 150 copies of this LARGE PAPER EDITION of the FIRST EDITION ever made.
This is a very scarce and important issue of this limited edition cornerstone title.
Please see photos for additional condition and edition clarity.
#5033i
The Langs' Fairy Books are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne.
The best known books of the series are the 12 collections of fairy tales also known as Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors.
In all, the volumes feature 798 stories, besides the 153 poems in The Blue Poetry Book.
Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a Scots poet, novelist, and literary critic. He initially edited the series and wrote prefaces for its entire run, while his wife, the translator and author Leonora Blanche Alleyne (1851 – 10 July 1933), known to friends and family as Nora, assumed editorial control of the series in the 1890s.[1] She and other translators did a large portion of the translating and retelling of the actual stories, as acknowledged in the prefaces. Four of the volumes from 1908 to 1912 were published by "Mrs. Lang". According to Anita Silvey, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession—literary criticism; fiction; poems; books and articles on anthropology, mythology, history, and travel ... he is best recognized for the works he did not write."
The Green Fairy Book (1892)[edit] First edition, 1892 In his Preface to this volume, Lang expressed the view that it would be "probably the last" of the collection. Their continuing popularity, however, demanded subsequent collections. In The Green Fairy Book, the third in the series, Lang has assembled stories from Spanish and Chinese traditions. "The Blue Bird" "The Half-Chick" "The Story of Caliph Stork" "The Enchanted Watch" "Rosanella" "Sylvain and Jocosa" "Fairy Gifts" "Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla" "Prince Featherhead and the Princess Celandine" "The Three Little Pigs" "Heart of Ice" "The Enchanted Ring" "The Snuff-box" "The Golden Blackbird" "The Little Soldier" "The Magic Swan" "The Dirty Shepherdess" "The Enchanted Snake" "The Biter Bit" "King Kojata" "Prince Fickle and Fair Helena" "Puddocky" "The Story of Hok Lee and the Dwarfs" "The Story of the Three Bears" "Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida" "Little One-eye, Little Two-eyes, and Little Three-eyes" "Jorinde and Joringel" "Allerleirauh; or, the Many-furred Creature" "The Twelve Huntsmen" "Spindle, Shuttle, and Needle" "The Crystal Coffin" "The Three Snake-leaves" "The Riddle" "Jack my Hedgehog" "The Golden Lads" "The White Snake" "The Story of a Clever Tailor" "The Golden Mermaid" "The War of the Wolf and the Fox" "The Story of the Fisherman and his Wife" "The Three Musicians" "The Three Dogs"