"TO MARKET, TO MARKET, TO BUY A PLUM CAKE…": KATE GREENAWAY'S MOTHER GOOSE, OR THE OLD NURSERY RHYMES, BEAUTIFULLY COLOR-ILLUSTRATED, THE COPY OF GREENAWAY'S EXCLUSIVE ENGRAVER AND PRINTER, EDMUND EVANS, WITH HIS BOOKLABEL
GREENAWAY, Kate. Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes. London and New York: George Routledge and Sons, [1881]. 12mo, original pink and white cloth. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First edition, second issue, association copy, of this lovely book of nursery rhymes, illustrated with color plates by Kate Greenaway, in original cloth. The copy of Greenaway's sole engraver and printer, Edmund Evans, with his booklabel.
"In the portrayal of childhood, no Victorian artist could combine charm, beauty and gentleness with such style as Kate Greenaway, the undisputed queen of nursery books" (Dalby, 26). Second issue, with the "G" in "Goose" printed upside down on the front cover, olive-green latticework design on both covers, and with "Contents of this Book" on the verso of the front free endpaper. Schuster & Engen 140.1b. Booklabel of Edmund Evans, "principally remembered for his the colour-printing of children's books by Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway" (Cambridge University Library). Evans and Greenaway collaborated on Under the Window, the book that helped launch Greenaway's career as an illustrator with a 100,000-copy print run. Its massive success was followed with Mother Goose, with which Evans took special care to produce an antique, hand-printed look, despite its release as a mass-market title. As a result of the exceptional printing standard, it remained in print for over half a century, a perennial children's favorite. Evans continued printing several Greenaway books each year, often in print runs of over 100,000 copies. Their success, particularly in the area of children's area, was unique. Morocco bookplate of Moncure Biddle, celebrated Philadelphia bibliophile, whose library included an "impressive" collection of Bibles (Dickinson, 40). Additional morocco bookplate.
Faint, scattered foxing to interior, minor offsetting between illustrations, text block split but sewn tightly, light soiling and a bit of toning to cloth. An extremely good copy with a fascinating provenance.