Elves and Fairies ... Verses by Annie R. Rentoul. Edited by Grenbry Outhwaite
Melbourne, Lothian, 1916.
Imperial quarto, 118, [10] (list of subscribers, last blank) pages with numerous illustrations plus 45 tipped-in full-page plates (15 in colour).
Light blue cloth illustrated and ornately lettered in gilt on the spine and front cover; top edge gilt, others uncut; pictorial endpapers; cloth a little rubbed, scuffed, and flecked, with a small fingerprint-sized red stain to the last word of the title on the front cover; spine lightly sunned, with its gilt blocking dulled; covers slightly bumped at the extremities; flyleaves a little offset; uncut edges and first and last few leaves a little foxed, with minimal scattered foxing elsewhere; a handful of tipped-in plates have tiny corner creases; some captioned tissue-guards a little creased or slightly torn, with a few other trifling signs of use; essentially a very good copy.
With the ownership signatures of Betty Angas (1916), and Keith Angas (Elizabeth Etty Angas, wife of Charles Howard Angas, and their son, Sir John Keith Angas [1900-1977]). In 1916, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite 'brought out her first coloured work, "Elves and Fairies", a de luxe edition produced entirely in Australia by Thomas Lothian [and limited to 1500 copies]. The success of the book, with its delicate water-colour plates, was due both to Ida's artistic talent and to the business acumen of her husband, who provided a £400 subsidy to ensure a high-quality production and consigned royalties to the Red Cross, thereby encouraging vice-regal patronage.... Visiting Europe in 1920, Ida exhibited with great success in Paris and London. Critics discerned the technical influence of Beardsley, Rackham, Dulac and Greenaway but affirmed the originality of her vision. She signed a contract with A. & C. Black who published five books for her over the next decade' (Australian Dictionary of Biography).
Item #104293
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