“LOST ON A SLEEPLESS SEA, WITHOUT AVAIL…”

CRANE, Walter. The Sirens Three. Boston: Richard G. Badger, circa 1886. Quarto, original green cloth gilt. $475.

Early American edition of Crane’s first illustrated book of his own verse, with 41 intricately decorated pages, printed in sepia.

“In book decoration, Crane was by no means content to confine himself to reproducing the work of others,” producing three books of his own illustrated verse, of which The Sirens Three was the first (DNB). “He was always concerned that the text should be harmonized and integrated completely with the illustration, which in turn must fill the whole frame of the page” (Dalby, 23). First published in serial form in The English Illustrated Magazine in 1885; first published in book form by Macmillan in London the following year.

Interior clean. Cloth with mild toning to spine and edges, light soiling to front board, cover gilt bright. An extremely good copy.