The Kingdom of the Pearl
New York: Brentano's, 1925. Very Good / Very Good. Item #11521
New York: Brentano's, [1925]. First U.S. Trade Edition, printed in a run of 675 copies, of which this is #312. Quarto. 151 pp. 10 color plates by Dulac, mounted on white art paper, framed with gray-green lines, with tissue guards printed at top with black letterpress. Dust jacket of tan paper printed in lavender with geometric seaweed design. Half white cloth with grey papered boards, stamped in silver with design of stylized waves and sea shells, spine stamped in gilt. Top edge gilt; geometric seaweed endpapers.
Dust jacket chipped with several short closed tears and rubbed along edges with some unfortunate dampstaining along spine, and a longer 5" tear to front joint starting at bottom edge. Large dampstain to bottom quarter of back board extending up along fore-edge, with some runs and ripples to paper and outward bowing toward fore-edge. Boards otherwise lightly edgeworn with exposure to bottom edge near corners. Binding is sound. Bookseller ticket to front pastedown, a few other stray bookseller pencil marks, but otherwise pages clean and unmarked.
One of Dulac's most vibrant works, and as one contemporary reviewer noted, his illustrations were, "rich in decorative forms and jewel-like colours, bringing out the beauty of minute things by the use of color and graceful line."
[Hughey 54e].
Price: $450.00