Long, Long Ago: A Picture Book of Nursery Tales

London: Blackie & Son Limited, n.d.. Hardcover. Very Good -. Hardcover. Undated but from the early 20th century. Somewhat uncommon, with one listing on Via Libri of a poor copy, and copies in just two libraries on WorldCat. With several classic stories, including Beauty and the Beast, Jack and the Bean-Stalk, and Little Red Riding Hood. Some of the illustrations are signed by the well-known English illustrator Helen Stratton (1867-1961). By 1891 Helen was in Kensington, London to attend art school, where she became a follower of Art Nouveau in the style of the Glasgow School of Art. For many years she lived and worked as a book illustrator and painter in Kensington with her widowed mother and siblings. From 1896 Stratton became well known for bold and imaginative pen and ink illustrations to classic tales, her first success being Norman Gale's Songs for Little People, of which The Bookseller wrote in 1896 "Miss Stratton has headed, tailed and bordered the verses with a series of exquisitely pictured fancies" [Wikipedia] Bound in glossy illustrated covers, with an old lady (witch?) on the front cover and advertisements for Blackie and Son's illustrated storybooks. With a gray cloth spine. Covers are soiled, torn, along front edge of cover. Front hinge slightly cracked. Text pages are generally clean, with some spotting and slight browning to margins. About very good minus. Measures 8 x 10.25 inches. Unpaginated [28 unnumbered pages] CHILD/012925.