Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale's Golden Book of Famous Women
London: Hodder & Stoughton. Brickdale, Eleanor Fortescue. Hardcover. #13 of 100 copies bound in full vellum, signed by the publisher. Written by various authors.
References give the publication date as 1916, 1919 and 1920. The trade edition also lacked a date. Baumgarten says 1916; Houfe states 1920. The IBIS Journal bibliography of her work does not even mention this limited edition but puts the trade edition as 1919.
Pictorial full vellum binding with embossed gilt drawings on the spine and front cover, 16 tipped-in color plates with printed tissue guards. Brickdale is considered one of the last artists in the Pre-Raphelite school and she brought their romantic, symbolic and highly designed attributes to her work. This might have been delayed in publication due to the Great War, since the binding is in the same style (and from the same publisher), as the deluxe pre-war limited edition gift books of Rackham, Nielsen and Dulac. Wonderful, gorgeous color plates.
We consider Brickdale's books to be minor gems, her Idylls of the King being another classic. Her limited editions had small limitations like this one and are not often found on the market. She also did a Golden Book of Songs and Lyrics attributed to 1915. Item #34806
Signed by the artist.
Price: $600.00