posted on 28 Jul 2015

The Sleeping Beauty retold by Arthur Quiller-Couch

 

 

It may be a case of false memory but when I first started buying second-hand books, illustrated children's classics in their original state seemed to be much more common than they are now. The classic illustrators - Dulac, Rackham, Goble etc. -  were, I think, under-rated amongst people who didn't already understand and love them. Over the past couple of decades this rather casual indifference seems to have changed - rightly so - and these classics are now highly regarded and increasingly difficult to find.

 

The fact that these were 'just children's books' was certainly part of the problem - why would people treasure, look-after and keep their children's old books? Children also read them and children are not by instinct respectful of the books they love - dribble, scribble and being used as a weapon always takes its toll. Age is also a problem - the spines dry out and crack, illustration plates slip out and foxing swarms over the acid-impregnated paper. 

So books that have survived in good condition are now scarce and expensive. Finding one in decent shape that didn't break the bank was a joy and this copy of Edmund Dulac's Sleeping Beauty retold by Arthur Quiller-Couch is a lovely book. The cloth remains a rich, deep red and is beautifully guilded with decorative motifs. All of the plates drawn by Dulac and richly coloured are in place and covered by those evocative sheets of tissue paper that tell you there is something precious that they are gaurding.

The binding is quite fragile and the book needs to be treated carefully but it is still a book to be loved and looked at, handled and read. 

Published by Hodder & Stoughton   1910.