Nursery Nonsense or Rhymes without Reason. By D'Arcy W Thompson, Illustrated by C H Bennett.
Published, London, Griffith and Farran, 1864.

DESCRIPTION: Pagination is viii, 56, followed by 32 page publishers' catalogue. With frontispiece, pictorial title page and circa 60 text wood-engravings by Charles H Bennett, COLOURED BY HAND THROUGHOUT, original colouring as issued, bound in original bright red bevel edged textured cloth, upper board and spine richly gilt decorated to a design probably also by Bennett, the lower board stamped in blind, edges gilt, brown endpapers, binders' ticket of Burn.

This was the first of two nonsense verse titles published by D'Arcy Thompson, eminent classical scholar and professor of Greek at Galway University; one of his previous pupils in England had been Robert Louis Stevenson. This book, like its successor of the following year, was written for and dedicated to, his son of the same name as himself who would grow up to become an eminent scientist and philosopher. The present collection of nonsense verse is part of the Victorian canon of such writings for children, which included the work of Lear and Lewis Carrol, and was included in the Rhys anthology of Nonsense issued in the Everyman series in 1927.

This copy is outstanding, not only because of its condition and rarity but also on account fo its being the highly desirable coloured issue, as made available by the publishers. Great care was evidently lavished upon both the production and colouring of this title, and few coloured copies have survived. A beautiful facsimile was produced by Shuppan of Tokyo in 1996 from a coloured copy, but this was of the second edition which has a different binding and title page. An amazing copy of a truly important Victorian children's title.

SIZE: 5.5 x 7.5 inches approx.

CONDITION: Binding is very lightly rubbed only, with negligible signs of use both internally and externally.

£800.00

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