London: David Bogue, 1854. First edition. Small quarto (6 5/8 x 5 inches; 170 x 127 mm.). [1-5], 6-31, [1, blank]; [1-5], 6-32. Twelve etched plates.

Bound with: George Cruikshank's Fairy Library. The History of Jack & the Bean-Stalk (London: George Routledge and Sons, [ca. 1870]). Later edition.

Bound by Zaehnsdorf ca. 1900 in full dark blue calf. Covers with triple-gilt borders and circular corner-pieces, spine with five raised bands, decoratively tooled in gilt in compartments, three red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt-ruled board edges, decorative gilt turn-ins, marbled end-papers, all edges gilt. Original paper wrappers for both works bound in. Armorial bookplate of the celebrated Cruikshank collector, the Earl of Mexborough, on front paste-down. Fine.

George Cruikshank (1792 - 1878) was a celebrated and prolific caricaturist and illustrator whose artwork appeared in the works of Charles Dickens, notably Oliver Twist (1838), and the first English translation of Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1823). "In the 1840s Cruikshank become an avid teetotaler and advocated for the Temperance Movement. This interest impacted his work and inspired him to write his own fireside tails detailing the perils of drinking. In 1854 Cruikshank produced a work called The Fairy Library in which he altered popular fairy tales to offer temperance lessons. Although the book did not sell well, the effort by the artist to provide lessons to his readers is not without precedent. Many tales have sought to teach amiable qualities and warn against unpleasant traits. Today his etchings continue to be placed among the work of the masters such as Ruskin" (Howard Tilton memorial Library).

The library of the Earl of Mexborough was sold by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in February 1917, "including a long series of works illustrated by the Cruikshanks." (Item #7421)