Bengal Fairy Tales (1920) :: illustrated by Abanindranath Tagore

Renowned as the painter of the outstanding Krishna Lila series, the Arabian Nights series and the iconic Bharat Mata, to name a few of his timeless masterpieces, the legendary artist Abanindranath Tagore was also an illustrator extraordinaire of books including children's literature.

We are now pleased to offer an exceedingly rare First Edition of a book on the fairy tales of Bengal. First published in London in 1920, these tales were collected in situ by the British diplomat and author F. B. Bradley-Birt. Born in 1874, Bradley-Birt was a member of the British Indian Civil Service in East India. It was during his appointment in Bengal that he collected, compiled and rendered these native stories of Bengal into English. This rare First Edition is particularly desirable for the six marvellous chromolithographic illustrations created specifically for this book by Abanindranath Tagore.

Several images of this precious rarity (including the complete table of contents and the list of illustrations) are attached herewith for the perusal of those interested.

BENGAL FAIRY TALES

Author: F. B. Bradley-Birt

Illustrated by: Abanindranath Tagore

Publisher: John Lane, The Bodley Head, London, MCMXX (1920) — Highly Rare Original Antiquarian First Edition

Printed by: William Clowes and Sons Ltd., London and Beccles, England

Format: Hardcover with the original deckle-edged pages on the bottom edge and the side edge, the top edge is smooth; images attached.

Size: 26.1 cm x 19.6 cm x 2.8 cm

Pages: x + 212 pages + 6 chromolithographic illustrative plates by Abanindranath Tagore.

Condition of the pages: Pre-Owned. Good+. Pages clean and unmarked. Original tight binding. Minor natural yellowing of the pages owing to age. Considerable foxing primarily on the blank endpapers. There is some spotting/foxing in the blank margins of the plates consistent with the natural ageing process; images attached. The margins of a select few pages have been professionally treated for future protection.

Condition of the Covers: Intact – Good. The original covers are completely intact with minor shelf-wear and fraying along the corners & edges. Slight spotting on the covers owing to age and use. The covers are neatly wrapped in an acetate film for future protection.

Inscription: The name of the original owner is handwritten on the front endpaper; image attached. The inner margin of the blank page following the front endpaper contains a handwritten gift inscription; image attached.

Remarks: Sourced with great difficulty, this antiquarian First Edition is extremely rare and hard to find, especially in such good and intact condition as the one we are offering. It does NOT suffer from any silverfish holes whatsoever, which is a common affliction in books of this vintage. The value of this particular book that we are offering lies in its utmost rarity for being the original First Edition published in London in the year 1920. The publication year in this book was printed in Roman numerals i.e. MCMXX; the practice of using Roman numerals was prevalent in England at the time.

Please email us on kumarclassicbookpoint@gmail.com for cost and availability, or for any further queries in order to serve you better. Delivery in Mumbai is free.