Beschreibung:

BOOKS - EDWARD JULIUS DETMOLD - 'TWENTY-FOUR NATURE PICTURES' - 54/500 SIGNED PORTFOLIO Published 1919 AD London, J. M. Dent & Sons; first edition, comprising: a large stiff portfolio (fabric ties damaged, flaps with some tearing at hinges) with printed title and details; a printed label on inside of front board confirming this set is number fifty-four of five hundred 'first proofs' and signed by the artist, containing twenty-four fine colour plates mounted on card backing with printed border, titled respectively 'Yellowhammer', 'Goldfinch and Blue Tit', 'Herring Gull', 'Heron', 'Woodpigeon', 'Golden Plover', 'Black Leghorn Chick', 'Green Woodpecker', 'Chaffinch', 'Bullfinch', 'Moorhen', 'Barn Owl', 'Wren', 'Nightingale', 'Lapwing', 'Jay', 'Songthrush and Long-Tailed Tit', 'Skylark', 'Hare and Rabbit', 'Squirrel', 'Dormouse', 'Hedgehogs', 'Edible Crab and Smelts' and 'Lobster', each from life in a detailed natural setting, with a tissue guard bearing the title of each picture printed in brown; the colour plate areas 23.5 x 37cm (14 3/4 x 9.6"). 3.10 kg, portfolio 40 x 53cm (15 3/4 x 21"). Fine condition; outer surfaces of portfolio lightly soiled; mount edges lightly browned; rare. [No Reserve] Provenance Property of a Kent collector; by inheritance. Footnotes Edward Julius Detmold (1883-1957), with his twin brother Charle Maurice Detmold (1883-1908), was a prolific Victorian artist and book illustrator; he exhibited at the Fine Art Society in 1900 and his work was used in many famous editions, including Kipling's The Jungle Book and Aesop's Fables; it is rare to find a complete set of all twenty-four plates still in the original publishers portfolio, as issued, with many sets having been broken up and framed to hang (a similar full set is presently on offer for a retail price of £3,900)