The Water Babies by Kingsley (Over 1,200 results)

Published within Goble's edition of Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies (Macmillan, 1909), opposite page 201. The Sphere chose this illustration for a feature on "Beautiful Christmas Books for Young and Old" published on 4 December 1909. Kingsley's story, which the author described as "all a fairy tale, and only fun and pretense" was first published in 1863. As noted by Alan Horne, "strongly influenced by Oriental art, Goble's colour washes are extremely subtle. He. illustrated books of fairy and adventure stories and he is best known today for the charm of these illustrations" (Horne, p. 220). A review of Goble's illustrated edition in the Pall Mall Magazine stated "Warwick Goble has illustrated with much delicacy and fancy Kingsley's Water-Babies, a classic, of course. 'Tis a sumptuous book indeed." Alan Horne, The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators, 1994; Pall Mall Magazine, December 1909, p. 1126; The Sphere, 4 December 1909, p. 222. Original drawing (320 x 238 mm) on paper professionally removed from artist's board (346 x 238 mm). Drawn in ink and watercolour, signed lower right ("Warwick Goble"). Mounted, framed and glazed (framed size 528 x 425 mm). Unfaded and bright, some minor toning: a fine watercolour.

Condition: Good. First Edition. First edition, first printing. First issue with "L'Envoy" leaf present. Bound in publisher's original dark blue cloth stamped in gilt, brown coated endsheets. Good. Cloth worn at corners and spine ends, with frayed started at the rear joint. Cloth lightly rubbed, with front cover mottled. Front and rear inner hinges are exposed, leaving binding a bit tender. Pages toned. Effaced owner inscription still evident on half-title page. Kingsley quickly withdrew the first issue with the poem L'Envoi, leaving only several hundred copies being published as such. Uncommon in the original cloth. Laid in is a a short hand-written note signed by Kingsley.

Hardback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. first edition, first issue with 'L'Envoi' leaf present, contemporary ink ownership name on endpaper, tissue-guard present but spotted, original pictorial cloth, spine ends with neat small repairs, upper hinge reinforced with matching brown paper strip, covers very lightly soiled, 4to, 1863. Presents very well on the shelf. This copy one of the few survivors in the original cloth, the first issue was withdrawn by Kingsley with only several hundred copies being published as such. Later issues were without the Envoi poem.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 1919. PICTURED BY JESSIE WILLCOX SMITH - ALL PICTURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. CONDITION: FINE +++. SELLER INVENTORY # AHQ-010.

First edition, second issue, from the library of the English writer Richard Adams (1920-2016), author of Watership Down, with his pictorial bookplate on the front pastedown. Kingsley's "most enduringly popular work" (ODNB) was originally serialized in Macmillan's Magazine from August 1862 to March 1863. The Water-Babies "began as a story for [Kingley's] own children and an attack on the continuing employment of climbing boys to sweep chimneys. But the story sends little Tom on an evolutionary moral journey and includes incidental satiric commentary on education, fashion, and current affairs, as well as mockery of post-Darwinian controversies about human descent and distinctiveness and the nature of scientific evidence" (ibid.). The book initiated the first golden age of children's books in England: Kingsley "was the first writer in England, perhaps the first in the world, except for H. C. Andersen, to discover that a children's book can be the perfect vehicle for an adult's most personal and private concerns. it was quite different from anything else written for children. in a small space, it managed to discover and explore almost all the directions that children's books would take over the next 100 years" (Carpenter, pp. 24-37). The second issue was published without the "L'Envoi" leaf: "Kingsley had second thoughts about this while the book was being printed, and he had the leaf removed, but not before a few hundred copies of the book had already gone forth" (Gottlieb). Gerald Gottlieb, Early Children's Books and Their Illustration, 113; Grolier Children's 100, 34. Humphrey Carpenter, Secret Gardens: a Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature, 1985. Quarto (194 x 147 mm). Lithographic frontispiece and one similar plate after drawings by Sir Joseph Noël Paton, elaborate wood-engraved initials after Robert Charles Dudley. Mid 20th-century green morocco by Bayntun (Rivière) for Sotheran, spine with raised bands, gilt lettering and elaborate decoration in compartments, double gilt fillet frame on covers, gilt design of lilies, lily pads, and fish, board edges and turn-ins tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. Spine slightly faded, discreet paper repair on half-title, lower edge of title page shaved touching last line of text, couple of spots of foxing, otherwise clean. A very good copy, presenting handsomely in the binding.

First Edition, First Issue. First Edition, First Issue. Three-quarter calf, marbled boards with gilt vignette on cover, rebacked. 350pp. The scarce 1st edition, 1st issue, with L'Envoi poem at leaf B (following erratum page), which was suppressed by Kingsley during the printing of the first edition. Superb and celebrated frontispiece by J. Noel Paton, others in the text. Front cover detached, wear; [together with] a splendid copy of the first edition copy (without the suppressed plate) in full green publisher's cloth, with the main fault being fraying and peeling at base of spine affecting small corner of cover (in need of repair), corners worn, slight loss of gilt to ruling on perimeter. Advertisement leaf at front, clean and bright internally. First editions of Water-Babies in the original cloth are extremely scarce, and so is the first issue without "L'Envoi" poem.

8vo. Bound in full crushed red morocco by Sotheran, with decorative gilt borders, raised bands, decorative gilt panels, gilt spine title, inside dentelles, top edge gilt. [viii], [3], 4-350, 1 blank pages. Illustrated by Noel Paton. "Just Another Destitute Little Chimney-Sweep" or "The Oddest Fairy Tale That There Has Ever Been? First edition. Grolier 100, 34. Bookplate of Irwin Laughlin on front pastedown. Rubbed along hinges and corners, else a fine copy. A lovely binding. With two illustrations by J. Noel Paton (Inserted frontispiece and full-page illustration opposite p. 145. ) and with a number of small illustrations used throughout as opening initials. Printed by R. Clay, Son, and Taylor, Printers. Without the L'Envoi leaf as is almost always encountered as the author had it removed from all but the first 200 or so copies. The difference between the first and second states is solely the removal of the L'Envoi leaf. The first state "contains a leaf bearing a poem, L'Envoi. Kingsley had second thoughts about this while the book was being printed, and he had the leaf removed, but not before a few hundred copies of the book had already gone forth." (Gottlieb, Early Children's Books and Their Illustration, 113). A very beautiful and very handsome copy, the text wonderfully bright and clean for this title, the fine binding. SCARCE FIRST EDITION IN A WONDERFUL BINDING BY SOTHERAN. Kingsley's WATER BABIES was extremely popular and remained a mainstay of English children's literature for many decades. Kingsley wrote the work as part satire in support for Darwin's 'Origin of Species', which Kingsley had been one of the earliest public figures to praise. Within the tale Kingsley alludes to debates among biologists of its day, satirizing and at various times referring to Sir Roderick Murchison, Professor Richard Owen, Professor Thomas Henry Huxley, and of course, "Mr. Darwin" They, and the science of the period become explicitly part of the story. The story is also thematically concerned with Christian redemption, and Kingsley also used the book to argue that England treated its poor badly, and to question child labour. Unfortunate common prejudices of its day, particularly in reference to Americans, Jews, blacks, Catholics and the Irish, have led to the story's fall from popularity. "Charles Kingsley was a rural vicar in Victorian England, and the "land-baby" of the sub-title was his youngest son, five-year-old Grenville Arthur. In writing this fairy tale about the underwater adventures of Tom, a chimney-sweep's climbing-boy, Kingsley uttered many a sermon. But along with his zeal for Anglican Christianity he also brought into play his enthusiasm for nature and his strong sense of indignation at the Victorian practice of using small children as laborers. Bound in full crushed red morocco by Sotheran, with decorative gilt borders, raised bands, decorative gilt panels, gilt spine title, inside dentelles, top edge gilt.

Condition: Near Fine. First edition, second state. Small square octavo (8 x 6 1/8 inches; 203 x 155 mm.). [viii], [3], 4-350, [1 advertisements], 1 blank, without the 'L'Envoi' leaf which was canceled early on by Kingsley, and inserted frontispiece and full-page illustration opposite p. 145, with eight large engraved initial chapter letters. Bound in original dark green fine-grain cloth, front cover with gilt triple-rule border enclosing a pictorial gilt center device depicting Tom, a Fish and a Sea-Horse. Spine ruled and lettered in gilt. Dark brown coated endpapers, top edge gilt. With the binders ticket of Burn of Kirby St., on the rear pastedown. Unidentified rectangular bookplate on front paste-down. Contemporary neat ink inscription on verso of front end-paper dated "Xmas 1863." A couple of small and very light spots on front cover short splits to the cloth at the lower spine fold, inner hinges with partial expert and almost invisible repairs. Otherwise a Near Fine copy, the gilt bright and fresh, of this scarce children's classic. Housed in a fleece-lined, quarter green morocco over green cloth clamshell case. "Charles Kingsley was a rural vicar in Victorian England, and the "land-baby" of the sub-title was his youngest son, five-year-old Grenville Arthur. In writing this fairy tale about the underwater adventures of Tom, a chimney-sweep's climbing-boy, Kingsley uttered many a sermon. But along with his zeal for Anglican Christianity he also brought into play his enthusiasm for nature and his strong sense of indignation at the Victorian practice of using small children as laborers. The difference between the first and second states is solely the removal of the L'Envoi leaf. The first state "contains a leaf bearing a poem, L'Envoi. Kingsley had second thoughts about this while the book was being printed, and he had the leaf removed, but not before a few hundred copies of the book had already gone forth" (Early Children's Books and Their Illustration). Grolier 100, 34. Near Fine.

Leather. Condition: Fine. J. Noel Paton (illustrator). First edition. A beautifully bound, first edition of Charles Kingsley's celebrated piece of children's literature, bound by Bayntun-Riviere in half crushed morocco. Bound by Bayntun-Riviere in an elegant half crushed morocco. The first edition, second state. Without the very scarce L'envoi leaf. During publication, Kingsley had second thoughts regarding the inclusion of the poem, and had the leaf removed, but not before approximately two hundred copies of the book had been printed. With two full-page plates by Scottish artist, J. Noel Paton. Collated, complete. Written by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, a Church of England priest, author and historian, known for his campaigns towards social reform.'The Water-Babies' is a canonical children's work, written in part as satire, in support of Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'. The book quickly became an extremely popular and influential work of British children's literature, following the story of Tom, a young chimney sweep, who becomes a 'water-baby' and begins a moral education.With a bookseller label of Henry Sotheran. Bound by Bayntun-Riviere in half crushed morocco. Externally, excellent, with light shelf wear. Bookseller label, binders stamp and pencil inscription to the verso of the front endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean with just the odd handling mark. Fine. book.

Leather. Condition: Very Good. J. Noel Paton (illustrator). First edition. A scarce first edition, first issue of Kingsley's noted work, The Water Babies, with the exceptionally scarce L'envoi leaf. The first edition, first issue with the exceptionally scarce L'envoi leaf. During publication, Kingsley had second thoughts regarding the inclusion of the poem, and had the leaf removed, but not before approximately two hundred copies of the book had been printed. With two full page plates by J. Noel Paton. Bound without the advertisement leaf. Rebound in half morocco. With the bookplate of Raymond Richards to front pastedown. Contemporary gift inscription to front blank. The Water-Babies is a canonical children's work, written in part as satire, in support of Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'. The book quickly became an extremely popular and influential work of British children's literature, following the story of Tom, a young chimney sweep, who becomes a 'water-baby' and begins a moral education. In a half morocco binding with cloth covered boards. Externally smart with rubbing to the extremities and the head and tail of the spine. The odd mark to the boards. With the bookplate of Raymond Richards to front pastedown. Contemporary gift inscription to front blank. Hinge is strained after frontispiece. Bookplate to front pastedown. Internally firmly bound. Page bright and clean with just the odd spot, heavier to the first and last few pages. Very Good. book.

First edition, second issue, of Kingsley's "most enduringly popular work" (ODNB), attractively bound. The story was originally serialised in Macmillans' Magazine from August 1862 to March 1863. The Water-Babies "began as a story for [Kingley's] own children and an attack on the continuing employment of climbing boys to sweep chimneys. But the story sends little Tom on an evolutionary moral journey and includes incidental satiric commentary on education, fashion, and current affairs, as well as mockery of post-Darwinian controversies about human descent and distinctiveness and the nature of scientific evidence" (ibid.). The book initiated the first golden age of children's books in England: Kingsley "was the first writer in England, perhaps the first in the world, except for H. C. Andersen, to discover that a children's book can be the perfect vehicle for an adult's most personal and private concerns. it was quite different from anything else written for children. in a small space, it managed to discover and explore almost all the directions that children's books would take over the next 100 years" (Carpenter, pp. 24-37). The second issue was published without the "L'Envoi" leaf: "Kingsley had second thoughts about this while the book was being printed, and he had the leaf removed, but not before a few hundred copies of the book had already gone forth" (Gottlieb). Gerald Gottlieb, Early Children's Books and Their Illustration, 113; Grolier Children's 100, 34. Humphrey Carpenter, Secret Gardens: a Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature, 1985. Quarto (192 x 148 mm). Lithographic frontispiece and one similar plate after drawings by Sir Joseph Noël Paton, elaborate wood-engraved initials after Robert Charles Dudley. Early 20th-century half vellum, smooth spine divided by twin gilt fillets, red morocco label, green cloth sides ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Contemporary ownership inscription "Annie + Nelly Codrington" on half-title. Couple of small marks to spine and rear cover, abrasion on front pastedown from bookplate removal, foxing to outer leaves, contents otherwise generally clean. A very good, fresh copy.

First edition. First edition. [viii], 350p, [i, ads]. Bound with half-title, lacking the l'envoi leaf. With two illustrations by J. Noel Paton. Bound by Bayntun-Riviere in half dark green crushed morocco with marbled endpapers, t.e.g., the spine with gilt titles and stylized floral panel ornaments. Original cloth upper cover bound in rear. Housed in cloth clamshell box. Laid in is an autograph letter signed by Charles Kingsley dated 1869 on letterhead embossed "Ebersley Rectory, Winchfield" reminding a parishioner of an overdue title. Crease to title-page, else fine.

First edition. First edition thus, the stunning Smith edition of Kingsley's beloved fairy tale, in original glassine and original box. Jessie Willcox Smith was one of the most successful artists of her day, her art appearing in numerous children's books as well as on the covers of periodicals such as GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. THE WATER-BABIES is one of Smith's best-known titles, and beautifully showcases her delightful blend of the hard outlines of Art Nouveau and the softness of watercolor. This copy in its original publisher's box and glassine is uncommonly sharp. 10'' x 7.25''. Original green cloth with color pictorial onlay. Original glassine. Color frontispiece tipped onto thick grey paper, with 11 color plates tipped onto thick grey paper and black-and-green illustrations throughout. 362 pages. In original publisher's box with green lid and color pictorial onlay. Box lid with some edgewear and infills. Glassine with light edgewear. Binding with a touch of bumping to corners and spine ends. Sharp. Fine in very good plus box and glassine.

Full Vellum. Condition: Very Good. Goble, Warwick (illustrator). Limited Edition. viii, 274 pp., Limited Edition. Full gilt decorated vellum binding, with top edge gilt. Some marks to the rear board and pencil mark to the spine. Lacking the original ties. Slight shaking to the binding, with wear to the hinges and webbing exposed. Minor occasional spotting, particularly to the extremities. Illustrated throughout with 34 tissue guarded, tipped in colour plates by Warwick Goble, complete. One of a limited edition of 260. The son of a warehouse operative, Goble was born in Hackney to a working class family. Trained at the City of London School (likely on a scholarship) and later Westminster School of art, he went on to develop a successful career as a book illustrator where his work was known for its sensitivity of tone. (Victorian Web) 4to. Illustrated.

FIRST EDITION. Small 4to. Half title, initial & final ad. leaves, front. & plate by J. Noel Paton, illus. in text. 20thC full dark green crushed morocco by Bayntun-Rivière of Bath, gilt spine, borders & dentelles. With one side of the orig. blue cloth bound in at end. a.e.g. A v.g. handsome copy. Wolff 3812. Without the suppressed 'Envoi' leaf, as is often the case.

Hardcover. First Edition; First Printing. Very Good in boards. Imprint on bottom of 2nd to last rear end page. Faint soiling on front/rear panels. Hinges tight.

Full White Vellum. Condition: Moderate Cover Soiling, Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Warwick Goble (illustrator). Edition De Luxe. This deluxe edition was limited to 260 copies. Thirty-two lovely color illustrations tipped onto brown heavy stock paper and protected by captioned tissue-guards. Collated complete.Covers are soiled, missing the silk ties. Previous owner's signature on front free endpaper. Front cover gilt vignette remains vivid. Spine lettered in gilt. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Quite clean and crisp copy internally. The first edition of "Water Babies" was published in 1863. Warwick Goble (1862-1943) was a British author and illustrator who specialized in fairy tales and exotic scenes from the Far East. See Quayle "Early Children's Books", p.80. Size: Quarto.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. "The Water Babies" by CHarles Kingsley. Macmillan, London 1863 first UK edition, first issue, with L'Envoi f., frontispiece & 1 plate by Paton, 1f. publisher's advertisements, 1f. author's book list at front, bookseller's label to front pastedown, ownership inscriptions to front endpaper, some browning and foxing, original green cloth, stamped in gilt and blind, rebacked preserving original backstrip, a little worn at corners. One of the very few rare first issue copies of Kingsley's famous children's book that garnered a lot of controversy.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION. 1st printing. Large 8vo. (8.1 x 6.4 inches). Second state, without with the L'Envoi poem leaf at the start of the book, which Kingsley had removed from all but the first few hundred copies issued. Two full page mono plates and 8 smaller engravings, one at the start of each chapter, by J. Noel Paton. Some occasional light foxing to a few pages, mostly to the margins. Finely bound in early twentieth century half tan calf leather binding by Riviere. Spine with five raised bands, each with gilt piping. Compartments ruled, decorated and lettered in gilt. Tan cloth on boards. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt. A little rubbing to the corners but overall a very good, highly attractive copy of this Victorian classic. -- More photos available on request.

hardcover. Condition: near fine. Smith, Jessie Willcox. (illustrator). Color frontispiece, 11 color plates, and many other illustrations throughout by Jessie Willcox Smith. 362pp. Large 4to, handsomely rebound in 1/4 dark green morocco. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., (1916). A near fine copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition, first issue (Macmillan & Co, 1863) with l envoi leaf present, of which there were only believed to be around 200 copies. Housed in an attractive morocco drop-back box with raised bands, blue compartments, gilt lettering and marbled boards. Original green cloth. Spine re-backed using most of the original, only lacking the tips and a small square hole just below the centre. Occasional light foxing and a little rubbing to covers. Hinges neatly reinforced. Free from names and inscriptions. A very good example of a very rare book.

First Edition. This copy is from the rare first issue of the first edition. It contains a leaf bearing a poem, L'Envoi [following the dedication page]. Kingsley had second thoughts about this while the book was being printed, and he had the leaf removed, but not before a few hundred copies of the book had already been printed (Gottlieb, Early Children's Books and Their Illustration, 113). Very good copy in a fine period binding - Professionally and sympathetically rebacked with the spine laid back. Spine bands and panel edges slightly dust-toned and rubbed as with age. Gilt-blocked leather label (somewhat worn) to spine, with raised bands and spine compartments uniformly tooled in gilt. Gilt and blind-tooled double-lined borders to panels. "Honoris Causa" gilt-stamped on front panel - "Eliot Place" on rear. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Scattered foxing around prelims and terminal leaves. Marginal foxing evident around the second plate facing p.145. Water staining also evident along bottom of prelims., including the frontis. and title page. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Further scans, images etc. and additional bibliographical material available on request.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 350 pages; Physical description: 350p., [2] leaves of plates : ill. ; 22 cm. Summary: The Water-Babies was inspired by Kingsley's thoughts on evolution. He was one of the few clergymen to accept wholeheartedly Darwin's theories of evolution and natural selection and to devote himself to the spread of the new knowledge of nature. Subjects: Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction -- Chimney sweeps -- Fairies -- Evolution. 1 Kg.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. FIRST HEATH ROBINSON EDITION. Large 8vo. (8.7 x 7.1 inches). Beautifully illustrated with 8 full colour plates and 95 listed line drawings in the text, many full page, plus a few small vignettes, not in the list of illustrations. Finely bound in recent full dark green Morocco leather binding. Spine with five raised bands. Compartments ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt. Single gilt ruled line border on boards. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt. Original illustrated front board and spine bound in. Some offsetting to the half title and the last text page but generally a very good clean and bright copy throughout in an attractive leather binding.

Cloth. Condition: Near Fine. Jessie Wilcox Smith (illustrator). First edition. The first edition thus of 'The Water-Babies', the first edition to be illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, replete with beautiful colour plates. In the original very scarce publisher's box. The first thus of Jessie Willcox Smith's illustrations.In the original very scarce publisher's pictorial cloth box. Box is in a good condition.'The Water-Babies' is a children's fairy tale that was extremely popular when it was published. The novel follows Tom, a young chimney sweep, who falls into a river and is transformed into a water-baby.Illustrated with a tipped-in colour frontispiece, eleven tipped-in colour plates, and half-tone vignettes throughout.Collated, complete.Written by Charles Kingsley. Kingsley was a priest for the Church of England, and was a friend and correspondent of Charles Darwin, writing this novel partly in satire of 'In Origin of Species'.Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, active during the Golden Age of American illustrations, contributing to many prominent publications. In the original publisher's cloth binding, in the original publisher's box. Externally, smart. Minor bumping to the head and tail of the spine and to the extremities. A few light marks to the boards and spine. Box is a little worn with some bumping and loss of cloth, one of the corners is split. Light marks to the box. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Box is in a good condition. Near Fine. book.

Condition: Gut. 28 vols. zus. DCIV, 10200 S. Mint and fresh with a bibliographical note by Edgar Mertner. Verlagsfrische Exemplare mit bibliographischer Notiz von Edgar Mertner. Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 750 Kl.-8°, original cloth : weinrote OLwd. mit goldgeprägtem R-Schild und DT, hellgrauer Kopfschnitt.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Illustrated Edition. The Water-Babies. Charles Kingsley. [1927] second Warwick Goble printing; Macmillan; very good half-leather hardcover. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, one of the premier bookbinders of the twentieth century. Green leather over decorative boards with gold tooling and red leather spine labels; tight/square; bookplate on pastedown. Some sunfading near front joint and top of front board; very light edgewear. Internally unmarked other than bookplate and binder's mark; color illustrations by Goble. A wonderful volume for the collector of fine bindings.

First Edition. This copy is from the rare first issue of the first edition. It contains a leaf bearing a poem, L'Envoi [following the dedication page]. Kingsley had second thoughts about this while the book was being printed, and he had the leaf removed, but not before a few hundred copies of the book had already been printed (Gottlieb, Early Children's Books and Their Illustration, 113). Very good copy in a fine period binding - Professionally and sympathetically rebacked with the spine laid back. Spine bands and panel edges slightly dust-toned and rubbed as with age. Gilt-blocked leather label (somewhat worn) to spine, with raised bands and spine compartments uniformly tooled in gilt. Gilt and blind-tooled double-lined borders to panels. "Honoris Causa" gilt-stamped on front panel - "Eliot Place" on rear. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Scattered foxing around prelims and terminal leaves. Marginal foxing evident around the second plate facing p.145. Water staining also evident along bottom of prelims., including the frontis. and title page. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Further scans, images etc. and additional bibliographical material available on request.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 350 pages; Physical description: 350p., [2] leaves of plates : ill. ; 22 cm. Summary: The Water-Babies was inspired by Kingsley's thoughts on evolution. He was one of the few clergymen to accept wholeheartedly Darwin's theories of evolution and natural selection and to devote himself to the spread of the new knowledge of nature. Subjects: Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction -- Chimney sweeps -- Fairies -- Evolution. 1 Kg.

Hardback. Condition: Fine. No Jacket. First Edition. First edition, first issue, 8vo (190 x 134mm.) Complete with the half-title, 2 engraved plates by J. Noel Paton, and 'L'Envoi' leaf at B1. minor very occasional light soiling, 1 plate slightly trimmed lower margin with minor chipping, very light spotting to rear endpaper, bound without advertisement leaf. 20th century red straight-grain half morocco with renewed front-free endpaper. Note: Kingsley suppressed the 'L'Envoi' leaf after the first 200 copies were printed. Provenance: Emily C. Beauchamp - name inscribed to initial blank.

Condition: Very good plus. First US edition, illustrated by Attwell, of Kingsley's classic "Fairy Tale for a Land Baby," a perfect title to showcase Attwell's art of chubby-cheeked children. Best known for her Boo-Boos series, Mabel Lucie Attwell's art was tremendously popular in this period. In addition to illustrating numerous children's books, her darling little babies appeared on everything from tea sets to thimbles to handkerchiefs. This lovely edition of THE WATER BABIES has her nostalgic artistic sensibilities on full display. 9.5'' x 7''. Original blue cloth boards. Color frontispiece with 11 color plates and numerous black-and-white illustrations. 144 pages. Binding with mild edgewear and a couple tiny scuffs, a hint of soil; spine gilt somewhat burnished. Rear hinge cracking but firm; text block a bit shaken. Leaves with scattered foxing, occasional mild finger soil to margins. Colors bright.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. HARDBACK BOUND IN THE ORIGINAL DECORATED CLOTH BINDING, COMPLETE COPY WITH EIGHT FULL PAGE MOUNTED COLOUR PLATES. BOOK MEASURES APPROX 9 x 7 INCHES. VERY MINOR WEAR AT TOP & BOTTOM OF SPINE WITH SLIGHT FADING TO SPINE, FEW VERY MINOR MARKS TO FRONT BOARD, INSCRIPTION DATED 1916 TO TOP OF TITLE PAGE, ENDPAPERS LIGHTLY BROWNED. OVERALL A LOVELY COPY IN VERY GOOD PLUS CONDITION WITH PAGES CLEAN & NO CREASING TO PLATES. EXTRA POSTAGE COSTS MAY APPLY TO OVERSEAS ORDERS. ALL BOOKS POSTED IN STURDY BOOK BOX.