Lispet, Lispett and Vaine

London: [Vine Books, printed at The Morland Press], 1923. First and Limited Edition. Vellum. Fine. Robins, W.P.. One of 200 copies, large octavo size, 49 pp., signed by Walter de la Mare. Walter John de la Mare (1873-1956) wrote poetry, short stories, novels, children's books, and psychological horror; he would win the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1947, and "is considered one of modern literature’s chief exemplars of the romantic imagination" (n.b., from the web site of the Poetry Foundation).

This a short story about a firm of silk merchants, Lispet, Lispett and Vaine, and their downfall. Bound in full vellum, handsomely printed by the Moreland Press and issued as the third volume in the Vine Book Series, for the subscribers of "The Bookman's Journal".

With three wood-block illustrations by William Palmer Robins (1882-1959), a woodcut artist, etcher, landscape painter and teacher. Robins was a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, Royal Watercolour Society, National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, Printmakers Society of California, Chicago Society of Etchers and an honorary fellow of the Australian Society of Etchers (per the web site of the British Museum).

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full limp vellum with yapped edges, gilt lettering on the spine, top edge gilt, patterned endpapers (of the initials "L L & V) in blue and brown, the half-title a small vignette in sepia, limitation page on the verso of the half-title, this no. 85 of 175 copies (total edition 200), with de la Mare's signature in black ink, title page in sepia and black lettering, the three small wood-block illustrations, all in sepia, on the title page, the second a large initial captial on p. 9, and serving as a tailpiece to the story; hand-set type on hand-made paper, large octavo size (9 5/8" by 6 5/8"), pagination: [1-8] 9-47 [48] [1, colophon] .

___CONDITION: Fine overall, the vellum smooth and supple, the yapped edges unworn, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and the sole prior owner markings we see a name written lightly in pencil at the top of the flyleaf (with the same name on both the recto and verso; the verso of the title page with a small stamp at the lower margin "Printed in Great Britain"; overall a lovely example, almost as new.

___CITATION: NCBEL IV, 259.

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