Tom Brown's Schooldays
Macmillan, 1896.
First edition thus, with illustrations by Edmund Sullivan. 8vo. Bound by Cedric Chivers in a "vellucent" binding. Full ivory vellum, with decoration in ink highlighted with blue and brown watercolour. Gilt borders. Chivers stamp to front blank. Black and white drawings by Sullivan. A handsome copy.
Based partly on the author's experiences at Rugby, Tom Brown's School Days was the first famous 'school story' and set a blueprint for the genre which became so popular throughout the twentieth century, influencing P.G. Wodehouse, Frank Richards, Enid Blyton and J.K. Rowling amongst many others. The book also saw the invention of one of literature's most popular anti-heroes in the school bully, Flashman, whose later life was successfully recreated by George MacDonald Fraser.
Cedric Chivers' vellucent bindings are beautiful and delicate, they came about when Chivers invented a process to make vellum translucent. The cover design was painted on a separate sheet and then had a thin sheet of vellum laid over it. Bindings were offered in very small numbers due to the workmanship involved.
Stock ID: 44287
£1,750.00
