This stunning edition of Masque of Days; Words by Elia and Dresses and Decorations by Walter Crane was published by Cassell and Company in 1901. A Masque of Days was a whimsical, allegorical essay written by Elia in his Last Essays of Elia. The essay acts as a creative personification of the calendar, depicting all the days of the year as guests at a grand banquet - and Walter Crane captures the decadence and beauty of this banquet beautifully.
The book features pictorial paper covered boards and a yellow cloth spine. It's in very good condition but there is wear and bumping to the corners with the paper split to reveal the board beneath. There is some chipping and peeling to the paper at the board edges and light marking to the boards. The spine is darkened whilst crushing to the spine ends has caused minor splitting in the cloth.
Inside, the pages show light age toning with occasional handling marks and foxing (foxing is more prominent to the preliminary and end pages. The illustrations are printed on one side of double leaves folded once in the Japanese style (this means the pages are uncut but this is a design feature). Sadly a past reader has separated two leaves, leaving the page edges a bit jagged. The illustrations in this book really steal the show! Walter Crane has created a masterpiece with his illustrations.
Dimensions approximately 28.7cm x 21.3cm x 1cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned paper and string.
I use a range of eco friendly, 100% recyclable jiffy bags and boxes, and whenever possible I use brown paper tape. The green bubbled wrap is biodegradable and the clear bubble wrap is 100% recyclable. I also reuse boxes when I feel it's appropriate (if the boxes are sturdy enough).