Pen Drawings 

By Norman Lindsay

Published by Arthur McQuitty & Co., Sydney, 1924

First Edition

 SIGNED by Norman Lindsay

Number 372 of 500

No dustjacket was published

Please note the signature of Norman Lindsay is not in the image of the page, ie, it is his actual authentic signature applied to the book by Norman Lindsay prior to the book being originally sold. 

A very rare book indeed. In almost all cases the foxing is quite heavy throughout but not this copy - scattered foxing to the first two leaves after the blank endpaper only.  

There are 24 large plates of which 12 are tipped in (separately printed and then affixed to the blank page along the top edge of the plate as part of the book's original manufacture) with three small illustrations plus the complete set of original tissue guards between plates. 

Photographs 5 to 11 inclusive are examples from this volume of the printed plates, and photographs 12 through 22 are examples from this volume of the tipped in plates. 

"Twelve pen-and-ink drawings show the second phase of Norman Lindsay's work. They cut adrift finally from the world of Roman debauch and mediaeval humour and knavery - the expression of a direct recoil from the rough-and-tumble of human emotion - which was necessarily the basis from which this later Hesperides of passionate imagination wrought the luxuriance of its gardens and the translucency of its forms." - excerpt from the foreword by Francis Crossle - there is a letter dated 1959 from Jack Lindsay to Harry F. Chaplin (not included with this book) noting that it was he that wrote the foreword rather than Crossle.

The magnificent plates in this volume represent Norman Lindsay's greatest achievements with the pen. 

An absolutely brilliant book in half calf in hardcover in partial vellum. The title and author are in gilt along with gilt embossed lines and an image of a half-women half-lion. 

The book is of a very large format measuring 32cm x 41.5 cm (12.8 inches by 16.6 inches).

The plates are in pairs - the first of the pair is printed and different to the second of the pair which is tipped in:

The Birth of Life.

The Garden of Happiness.

God.

Love.

The Pilgrims.

Man's Heaven.

Other Lovers.

Serious Things.

A Lyric of Earth.

(Dedicated to the Poetry of Hugh McCrae).

Wagner.

Bacchinal.

Battle.

The volume has been very professionally restored with two new blank endpapers. There is some light shelfwear, and some general aging/marks to the lighter coloured components of the covers. There is no sunning. There is scattered foxing to the edition/signature leaf, the title leaf, and rear colophon leaf. Amazingly, there is only minor spots of foxing otherwise. There is a bookplate to the blank rear of the edition/signature page. All plates are pristine and all tissue guards are present. The volume has a firm binding and solid spine. There are no previous owners' inscriptions or stamps. The book is complete and original with no loose, missing, stained, or damaged pages.

A wonderful addition to and a centrepiece for any Lindsay collection. Really sad to see this one go.

So rare in this condition.

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