THE WATER BABIES. [Illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone.**]

UK,slim Qrto HB,no dw/dj - as issued,1st edn. [Publisher issued a smaller format edn later,in 1996.] FINE.No owner inscrptn.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated boards with colour pictorial artwork illustration to either,by Anne Grahame Jonstone,with blue+black lettering to front boards; a single,colour pictorial illustration to rear board without any text/ lettering other than publishisher's nams+ISBN. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges, corner tips minimally bumped and minisculely rubbed with subsequent reciprocal colour paper losss.Top+ fore-edges clean; contents bright,tight,clean and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - possibly unread - apart from my own collation.Because of the light paper used,where the signature has been sewn in; to the bottom 2.1/2" of front free endpaper have perforated and become free - the rest is still in situ and still attached/sewn. Further continued use - i.e. page turning - will eventually cause the rest of the front free endpaper to perforate and become loose and eventually free.UK, slim Qrto HB, o dw/dj - as issued,1st edn,28pp [unpaginated - and includes both front+rear free endpapers],comprising colour illustrated pastedowns and free endpapers,double-page colour pictorial artwork illustrated title page,other full,part and double-page colour illustrations throughout - all by Anne Grahame Johnstone. Visually the exterior appearance is acceptable for a book of it's nature, i.e, a children's book, and even internally,the book is also in an acceptable condition/state of preservation and presentation It is only the faults described that prevent a higher grading.Despite them, it really is an acceptable example for brightness and cleanliness. Highly collected and prolific children's book illustrators, an exceptional illustrated and unusual item/ephemera in Janet and Anne Grahame-Johnstone's twin's collaborative bold style,as this is illustrated by Anne alone,after her sister's death,and will be an important and welcome addition to the A & J Grahame Johnstones' canon.
Want more Janet & Anne Grahame JOHNSTONE titles? For similar and other titles please seach my CHILDRENS/ILLUSTRATED catalogue. Twins,born 1st June,1928.Janet died in a tragic accident on 20th January,1979,Anne surviving her until 25th May,1998.Janet specialized in animals and birds, Anne focused on the period costumes that so dominated their work.Alone,after her sister's death, Anne found herself unexpectedly responsible for the entire business enterprise previously shared with her sister,but she managed to honour all of their outstanding commissions.She had to master the techniques for drawing and painting animals, particularly horses,which had been the specialty of her sister.Eventually she became so adept that she was elected a Member of the Society of Equestrian Artists in 1998. Because of their symbiotic collaboration,until the death of Janet in 1979,there was never a book illustrated under either one of their names alone.This title is one of the first illustrated and published with Anne's credited name alone. Children's book illustrators specialising in large, brightly coloured gift books (mainly published by Dean & Son,Ltd.) in which the full-page illustrations surround the passages of text.Their work represents a recent manifestation of the nursery tradition mass-marketed by Mabel Lucie Attwell and updated by Hilda Boswell,characterised by unfailing sentimentality and a palpable determination to please.Between them they published over 200 titles; with over 5,000 illustrations in total: 1,000+ in b/w and 4,000+ in colour,and 10 technical equestrian books.
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