London: Hodder & Stoughton, [1911]. First trade edition. Original pale olive green cloth pictorially stamped and lettered in gilt on front cover and spine. End-papers printed in pale green with repeated design of stylized peacocks. Minor browning to end-papers, minimal foxing to first and last few leaves, neat ink inscription on verso of frontispiece. Minimal rubbing to extremities. Mounted color frontispiece, with descriptive tissue guard printed in black, and twenty-seven mounted color plates (included in pagination). Plates framed with thick pale green line border and accompanied by guard leaves printed in pale green with stylized pineapples on the recto and a border of snowflakes above descriptive caption on the verso. Text pages with pale green snowflake borders at top and bottom. All leaves framed with double pale green lines. A Very Good copy.

During his lifetime, Hans Christian Andersen, whose every fairy tale has become a classic, was second only to Charles Dickens as the most popular author in the Western world. Here, his famed narratives get the artistic treatment of Dulac, who brings characters to life for the reader.

Hughey 27b. (Item #3619)