Item #119637 Why the Laughing Jack Laughed. A Fairy Story. Illustrated by Esmond George. Florence HAYWARD, 'Firenze'.
Why the Laughing Jack Laughed. A Fairy Story. Illustrated by Esmond George
Why the Laughing Jack Laughed. A Fairy Story. Illustrated by Esmond George
Why the Laughing Jack Laughed. A Fairy Story. Illustrated by Esmond George

Why the Laughing Jack Laughed. A Fairy Story. Illustrated by Esmond George

Adelaide, Rigby Ltd., [1916].

Duodecimo, [3]-36 pages with a colour pictorial title page and 4 full-page colour illustrations; all leaves are thick card.

Pictorial papered boards printed in sepia and bound with brown ribbon (replacing the original brown cord); covers marked and a little foxed, worn and a little bumped at the extremities, with minor (mainly surface) loss to silverfish; early ownership details on the inside front cover; minor signs of use and age; overall a very decent copy.

One of 'The Bungalow Brownies' Series. Muir 3409 (calling for '36pp, dec. col. t.p., col. frontis. & 3 f/p col. illus.'). In spite of our pagination irregularity, we believe our copy is complete, and it conforms with the three other copies we have handled and catalogued over the decades. The only other title in the uniform series is 'The Sunshine Fairies & the Shadow Giants' (Muir 3410). We have recorded a similar pagination discrepancy with this title ([3]-25 pages, and not the '25pp' called for by Muir). On closer inspection, we notice the imprint details appear only on the front cover, suggesting (to us, at any rate) that the front cover accounts for pages [1] and [2] in both instances. Marcie Muir had suggested [1916?], and with the inestimable benefit of Trove, we can confirm that date. The books were reviewed in the Adelaide 'Register' on Saturday 19 February 1916: 'A well-known Adelaide doctor's wife, whose husband and sons are doing good service in the war, has long been in the habit of telling fairy stories to the children of her own household, and she has now been induced to let a wider circle have the benefit of them.... The booklets are bound on a new and ingenious principle, and make cheap and attractive presents. This Adelaide venture deserves support'. This may not have been forthcoming, as both items are rare in our experience.

Item #119637

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