A Day in a Child's Life

London: Edmund Evans, 1881. First edition. Quarto (9 9/16 x 8 1/4 in; 243 x 208 mm). 29, [1, printer's slug] pp. Color-printed wood-engraved text illustrations, most accompanied with musical notations. Publisher's light green glazed pictorial boards, beveled edges with green cloth backstrip, light green coated endpapers, all edges stained green. Thomson variant 31a with border of six narrow brown rules alternating with five yellow rules; inside border at each corner containing a yellow sunflower. In the publisher's printed dust jacket with some acid-free tape strengthening on the verso and a small (1 1/4 inch) piece chipped away from top of spine and (truncated) one small chip (5/8 x 1/2 inch) on front panel not affecting text or image. Housed in a black cloth clamshell case, spine lettered in gilt. A very good copy.

"Victorian-era children’s book artist and author Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) began her career during the early 1870s illustrating greeting cards," (NYPL) but she soon turned her successful brush towards book illustration. "Like fellow illustrators Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott, Greenaway sought to publish innovative children’s works of the highest quality. Her focus on depictions of children, however, set her illustrations apart from those of her contemporaries. Greenaway’s work is cherished today for its unaffected, pastoral imagery" (NYPL). Her romantic conception of childhood was based in part on her own experiences. Famous critic John Ruskin was known to be a huge admirer of her art. "…By Christmas, Ruskin had recovered and was ready to advise her. Although he was still depressed by his uncontrollable health…his depression was somewhat relieved by Kate's latest books…A Day in a Child's Life was even more evocative, with its rose wreath half-title page; a blonde girl lying in bed, so reminiscent of a child Rose on her sick bed; and young girls in white frocks dancing over a hillside to 'A Romp' - so like his Winnington Hall frolics" (Engen).

Schuster & Engen 66; Thomson 31d; Engen, Kate Greenaway. A Biography. (Inventory #: 6295)