Andrew Lang [ed.] — The Brown Fairy Book

London, Longmans, Green, and Co. 1904. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of this captivating Fairy Book from Andrew Lang, adorned with colour plates and engravings by H. J. Ford. The first edition of this enchanting anthology of fairy tales.In the publisher's original decorative cloth binding. With beautiful illustrations by H. J. Ford, including seven colour plates, twenty-two black-and-white plates and numerous vignettes. Collated, missing colour plate pp. 36. Two black-and-white plate (pp. 8, 218) has been partly coloured in by the book's previous owner, quite neatly. This is the ninth Fairy Book compiled by Scottish poet, novelist and critic Andrew Lang, featuring a delightful assortment of stories from the American Indians, Australian Bushmen and African Sothos, and from Persia, Lapland, Brazil and India.  Mermaids, princesses, wolverines, gnomes, magical heads and elves make up just some of the curious characters portrayed in these stories. 'The Coloured Fairy Book' series was published between 1889-1910 by Andrew Lang and his wife Leonora Blanche. Whilst Leonora assumed editorial control of the series in the 1890s, Andrew edited the series and wrote prefaces for its entire run.  In the original decorative cloth binding. Externally, hinges are strained. Internally, generally firmly bound, with cracks to the gutters. Pages are generally bright and clean, with the odd spot. Light toning to the endpapers. Good . Ill.: H. J. Ford. Good .