Andrew Lang — The Animal Story Book

London, Longmans, Green, and Co. 1896 . First edition. Cloth. The first edition of Andrew Lang's collection of animal stories for children, wonderfully illustrated by H. J. Ford. The first edition. Bound in the publisher's original decorative navy cloth. A collection of tales featuring animals from land, sea and air, retold by Lang from stories originally written by the likes of Alexandre Dumas, Theophile Gautier, Pliny, and others.Wonderfully illustrated by Henry Justice Ford, a noted English illustrator praised for his beautiful illustrations for Lang's works. With sixty-six illustrations, twenty-eight of which are full-page plates. Collated, complete. Written by Scottish poet, novelist and critic, Andrew Lang, who was an avid collector of folk and fairy tales. He is best known for his important and decorative series of Fairy Books, as well as numerous other works written for children. Ink inscription to half title. Bound in the publisher's original decorative navy cloth. Externally, generally, smart, with rubbing to joints and spine, and a little bumping to the extremities. Light marks to boards, causing some discolouration in places. Hinges are tender, but holding. Internally, binding is tender in places, with a split after page 158 and the following few pages detached. Tape to the gutter of p159-61. Pages are generally bright, with light spotting and the odd mark or pen annotation. The occasional chip to page extremities, with a cut to the corner of p123. Good Only . Ill.: H. J. Ford. Good Only .