Arabian Nights

Philadelphia: Penn Publishing, 1928 Black cloth titled in gilt with color pastedown, rebacked retaining original endpapers, new spine with original spine laid down, gilt perished, wear to pastedown, edges worn through, roughness to endpaper gutters, a few martinal tears, a few mended tears, plate at page 190 trimmed short with marginal mended tears, some foxing, mainly in the margins of color plates. Select tales from 1001 Arabian Nights illustrated with 16 tissue-guarded color plates and 20 b&w vignettes. Virginia Sterrett's story is somewhat tragic. She was only able to complete one year of training at the Art Institute of Chicago before dropping out to help care for her ailing mother. Then she was diagnosed wtih tuberculosis at the age of 19, when she also received her first commission from Penn Publishing; to illustrate Old French Fairy Tales. Her illustrations for Arabian Nights represent her final commission before her death at the age of 31. Her work is fanciful, detailed and often compared to that of Kay Nielsen. . First Edition. Pictorial Cover. Good Minus/No Jacket. Illus. by Virginia Frances Sterrett. Large Thick 4to.