Sketching Rambles in Holland...With Illustrations by the Author and Edwin A. Abbey
first edition
by BOUGHTON George H.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1885. . Large 8vo, gold-toned cloth, front with bold floral decoration and lettering in silver and black; spine darkened; some abrasion at head and tail of spine and over corners Presumed First American. Edition. Published in London by Macmillan, in the same year.Ellen Terry's copy with her signature on the title and a pencil note in her hand "Page 224". The significance of this now appears lost, for there does not seem to be a recognizable connection to the great lady on that page. Craig was the illegitimate son of Ellen Terry and Edward William Godwin.On the front pastedown is a woodblock bookplate on brown paper designed by Terry's son, Gordon Edward CraigÑwithin a ruled box, a stylized plant with three upright blooms and three basal leaves; on the left side of the plant is the letter "G" and on the right, a "C"; below the plant is the date "1898". It is No. 29 in John Blatchly's, The Bookplates of Edward Gordon Craig (London: The Bookplate Society and The Apsley House Press, 1997), pp. 34-35 and, with the exception of the year, it closely matches the design of No. 28, which is dated 1896 and appears in two different states (a darker and a lighter version; No. 29 has the heaviest line among the three). Regarding the 1898 present version, Blatchly states: ÒIt is strangely elusive, appearing rarely outside collections presented to the family (p. 35).Ó Although most of the illustrations are by Boughton and Abbey, nine are by James Edwards Rogers (1872Ð1938, a lesser known illustrator. (Inventory #: 2387)