The Crimson Fairy Book

Andrew Lang. The Crimson Fairy Book. Illustrations by H. J. Ford. London &  New York,  Longmans, Green and Co., 1903.

This week we’re looking at Andrew Lang’s Crimson coloured fairy book. I had a terrible time choosing the artwork to showcase in this post because all of it is wonderful. H.J. Ford’s full-page drawings are full of whimsy, and each one has some element or another that makes it worthy of a look, so I’ve included all of them for you to see. Enjoy. [Read more…]

The Art of Book Design: Everything for the Garden

Everything for the Garde, Peter Henderson and Co., 1904 catalogue (front cover)

Everything for the Garde, Peter Henderson and Co., 1904 catalogue (back cover)

This is a beautiful catalogue with many delightful full-page coloured illustrations. You can see the whole thing at the link below.

via: The Internet Archive

The Blue Fairy Book

Andrew Lang. The Blue Fairy Book. Illustrations by H.J. Ford. New York, Longmans, Green and Co., 1889.

This book was originally published in 1889, however, I have added the coloured frontispiece from the 1922 edition to this post. I did so because the illustration is the work of Henry J. Ford, who masterminded the art for the entire original Lang coloured fairy tale set. Otherwise, the 1889 edition contains more stories and illustrations than the edition from 1922.

[Read more…]