Princess Badoura (Signed limited edition)
- SIGNED
- London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1913
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1913. Edition de luxe. Near Fine. No. 252 of 750 signed by Edmund Dulac. Large quarto (11 3/16 x 8 7/8 inches; 287 x 226 mm.). [viii], 113, [1, printer’s imprint], [2, blank] pp. Ten mounted color plates (including frontispiece), with tissue guards printed at top with the design from the title-page and descriptive letterpress in light olive ink. Title within fanciful line border and with design of two winged figures holding high an urn of flowers in light olive ink. Text within similar line border in light olive ink. With the original Leicester Galleries 1913 exhibition advertisement sheet laid in. Publisher's cream buckram pictorially stamped in pale green and gilt (with design from title-page embellished by two peacocks and additional lines) and lettered in gilt on front cover and decoratively stamped in pale green and gilt and lettered in gilt on spine. Top edge gilt, others uncut. Spine very slightly darkened, otherwise a near fine copy.
Laurence Housman’s short story, Princess Badoura: A Tale from the Arabian Nights (1913), was inspired by an episode in the folktale collection “One Thousand and One Nights". Dulac’s illustrations for this volume are somewhat of a departure from his Persianate-miniature inspired style, drawing instead on Chinese painting. After some magical intervention by two Genies the beautiful Chinese Princess and the Prince Persia fall in love—the story recounts their adventures as they attempt to be together. A contemporary review from the Outlook described Dulac’s illustrations thusly “Nothing more purely beautiful has ever come even from Dulac’s fairy brush than the picture of Badoura in the arms of Camaralzaman against a background so exquisite as to make one hold one’s breath” (Hughly).
French-born anglophile Edmond Dulac (1882-1953) was one of the most prized artists of the “golden age” of book illustration. A gifted artist, especially in the medium of watercolor, Dulac’s ability to render luxurious detail and subtle emotions is otherworldly. He is best known for his illustrations for books and magazines, although he also designed for the stage and wrote music; in moments of financial insecurity he produced serialized cartoons and became an authority on postage stamp design (White).
Hughey 31. Near Fine.
Laurence Housman’s short story, Princess Badoura: A Tale from the Arabian Nights (1913), was inspired by an episode in the folktale collection “One Thousand and One Nights". Dulac’s illustrations for this volume are somewhat of a departure from his Persianate-miniature inspired style, drawing instead on Chinese painting. After some magical intervention by two Genies the beautiful Chinese Princess and the Prince Persia fall in love—the story recounts their adventures as they attempt to be together. A contemporary review from the Outlook described Dulac’s illustrations thusly “Nothing more purely beautiful has ever come even from Dulac’s fairy brush than the picture of Badoura in the arms of Camaralzaman against a background so exquisite as to make one hold one’s breath” (Hughly).
French-born anglophile Edmond Dulac (1882-1953) was one of the most prized artists of the “golden age” of book illustration. A gifted artist, especially in the medium of watercolor, Dulac’s ability to render luxurious detail and subtle emotions is otherworldly. He is best known for his illustrations for books and magazines, although he also designed for the stage and wrote music; in moments of financial insecurity he produced serialized cartoons and became an authority on postage stamp design (White).
Hughey 31. Near Fine.