A Ride On A Rocking-Horse (One-Of-A-Kind)

Rachel A. (Alice) Marshall

Published by E. P. Dutton And Company, New York

I've rated this book Good Minus, taking into account its age. There isn't a date of publication in the book. My guess is that it was published in 1917 or 1918. On the copyright page it states 'Engraved And Printed By Edmund Evans, LTD. Rose Place, Globe Road, London, E. I. Printed In England'. I've identified it as One-Of-A-Kind because there doesn't appear to be another copy for sale anywhere on the Internet. I found a description in the 'Book Table' of a publication called Journal of Education from December 19, 1918. It references the author's name and the publisher E. P. Dutton and New York. It says 'Exquisitely Illustrated. Here are combined the genius of a writer of the best books for children, the masterfullness of the children's artist and the height of bookmaking art. The conception is entirely new in every regard, which lends a halo to the story as well as to the twenty-four full page color pictures'. And that's it. I guess they weren't impressed. Sounds a bit hyperbolic. But I can say that all 24 full-page color pictures have been counted and accounted for. So it's a nearly 100-year-old children's book which means it's been well handled. You can see the covers in the first three photographs. All four corners have rub-through to the boards. There's that red stain you can see near the bottom edge of the front. That's the only place it appears. There is other soiling on the front. There is what appears to be pencil lines outside and inside the circle on the front. They are fairly light. The black spine has some fraying at the ends. It also has the tear you can see a quarter of the way up from the bottom. Looking at the rear you've got the handling soiling and the two tears on the edge of the spine. The inside cover and front free end paper are pink, somewhat faded, with a design of white flowers and a little child who appears to be dancing and has wings, perhaps angelic or perhaps like a dragonfly. He is playing a musical instrument of some sort. There isn't a crack between the inside cover and front free end paper but there is a very slight tear near the gutter on the inside cover. There's also a little bit of give. These two pages are quite clean. There is a penned name off the top edge of the front free end paper (Michele Baptiste) above the illustration. On the next page, a blank page, opposite the title page, there's a circular jag from a pencil. There's also a vertical crease 1/4 inch away from the gutter, again no crack. The pages have Very tiny numbers. Never saw such tiny numbers before. Page 6 has a 2 inch tear coming up from the bottom edge at the gutter. It's too small to affect the binding. As I turn over the pages I see occasional smudges, a couple of tiny tears, a wrinkle or two. Page 17 has a 3 inch tear coming up from the bottom edge at the gutter, but it is bound well above that so it isn't about to detach. You can see space between the pages over these 3 inches. Page 19 has another 3 inch tear coming up from the bottom, but again is well bound above that. Page 21 and 22 don't have that tear but do have a tiny loss at the bottom middle. Page 31 has a light pencil jag that reaches into the picture. Between pages 32 and 33 there is a space and page 32 has that same tear coming up about 3 inches, again it is bound tightly above that. Exact same thing with page 35. On page 36 and page 37 the tiny numbers have little penciled squares around them. Page 39 has a 2 inch tear coming up off the bottom, not at the gutter. Same for page 40 which also has a light pencil jag just edging into the color drawing. I'm approaching my word limit!! That's it for compulsivity. The rest of the pages (63 of them) fit the pattern. No page is detached. The illustrations are generally in very good condition. There is no crack between the rear inside cover and last end paper. Take a look at the photographs. If you've been waiting for this title to come up for sale, here it is. Seller Inventory # 001065

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Ride On A Rocking-Horse (One-Of-A-Kind)
Publisher: E. P. Dutton And Company, New York
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good Minus