The Golden Age

London and New York: John Lane: The Bodley Head, 1900. First edition thus. Hardcover. Maxfield Parrish. 252, [2] pp. Octavo [21 cm] Original, green cloth with yellow and blue ornamental designs and title on the front cover, and a faded gilt title on the spine. Deckled fore and bottom edges. With numerous black and white illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, including a frontispiece and illustrated title page. Good condition. There are a couple splits in the cloth along the joints, with the longer split measuring 3 inches long. There are multiple short splits in the cloth at the ends of the spine, and the underlying boards are exposed at the corners. The front endpaper is cracked along the hinge, the hinge is going, and the front free endpaper has a contemporary owner's name written in pen and pencil. Complete, all plates present. Before the age of 30, Maxfield Parrish had worked as an illustrator and poster designer for Harper's Weekly, Scribner's Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal and the National Weekly. Parrish took full advantage of the new technologies in color reproduction and established himself as the master of fantasy and romance. He quickly became one of the best designers in what has been referred to as the "golden age of illustration.