This stunning edition of The Swiss Family Robinson features stunning art nouveau boards designed by Ethel Larcombe. The book was published by Blackie and Son. The book is undated but there is a presentation plate on the front endpaper dated 1915.
Ethel Larcombe was born and raised in Exeter where her parents owned a small school. She was employed by Talwin Morris (famed for his beautiful art nouveau book covers) on a freelance basis, to design covers for both Gresham and Blackie and Son.
The book is in good condition but there is wear to the corners, with minor splitting in the cloth which has revealed the board peeking through. The text block edges show foxing and there is some wear to the decoration on the front and spine. There is some staining to the back board and other minor marks to the cloth. The spine is lightly sunned, whilst crushing to the spine ends has caused minor splitting in the cloth.
Inside, there is a presentation plate glued to the front free endpaper and there is a bookseller's sticker in the top corner of the front pastedown. The pages show significant foxing throughout with occasional finger-mark prints. There are some superficial cracks to the gutter in places but the pages remain tightly bound.
The book features one colour frontispiece.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned wallpaper and string. The bubble wrap I use is 100% biodegradable and the jiffy bags are recyclable.
Where possible, I use 100% recyclable paper tape, but sometimes I have to use clear plastic tape for extra strength.