#twentieth century

I often have to remind people of this fact.

                         Here stand my books, line upon line
                         They reach the roof, and row by row,
                         They speak of faded tastes of mine,
                         And things I did, but do not, know.

                                                            ~ Andrew Lang

This morocco binding rainbow comprises 11 of the 12 ‘Coloured’ Fairy Books, e.g. blue, red, yellow, green and so on, published between 1889 and 1910 by Scottish author Andrew Lang (1844-1912) and his wife Leonora (1851-1933). 

They were collected by Alexander Turnbull, who had each volume rebound in the rich colour of each title fairy. Only the Violet Fairy Book (1901) is lacking for reasons unknown.

Rather than see them discarded, Turnbull requested his binders affix the original gold-blocked covers to the front pastedown (and the original spine strip to the rear pastedown) in each book as shown here in the Brown Fairy Book (1904) and in this previous Turnbull Rare Books post:

https://turnbullrarebooks.tumblr.com/post/102849803244/a-decorated-publishers-bookbinding-from-the-1890s

‘Points for Pickle Purchasers’

There are times when what is printed to accompany a text is as equally interesting as the text itself or even more so.

Such an example is this advertisement from 1908 for the pickle manufacturer S. Kirkpatrick & Co. based in Nelson, New Zealand. 

Kirkpatrick warned readers not to settle for ‘inferior Pickles put up in concoctions of acetic acid - unpleasant and unsatisfactory’ before touting its pickles as the ‘one best’ brand on the market. ‘They couldn’t be better if they cost more - couldn’t be as good if they cost less’.

–

A. A. Grace,  Atareta: the belle of the Kainga. Wellington: Gordon & Gotch, 1908, Alexander Turnbull Library, P 823NZ. 

Broncia Koller-Pinell (Austrian, 1863 - 1934): Pitcher with flowers(viaDorotheum)

Dorrit Black (Australian, 1891 - 1951): Corner of the garden (c. 1936) (via Art Gallery of South Australia)

Vera Rockline (Russian/French, 1896-1934): Reclining nude with red necklace(viaMacDougall’s)

Antonietta Brandeis (Czech, 1848-1926): Sunset in the lagoon(viaBonhams)

Fern Coppedge (American, 1883 - 1951): Untitled(viaMichener Art Museum)

Dorrit Black (Australian, 1891 - 1951): Coast road (1942) (via Art Gallery of South Australia)

Attributed to Antonietta Brandeis (Czech, 1848-1926): Bridge over a venetian canal with a boy fishing(viaBonhams)

Ada Belle Champlin (American, 1875-1950): California Costal View (viaAspire Auctions)

Mabel Culbertson (American, 1874-1948): Sunshine and Shadow of Pt. Lobos (viaBonhams)

Agnes M. Cowieson (Scottish, active 1882-1940): On Portobello Sands, Waiting for Hire(viaBonhams)

Anne Davidson Muir (British, 1875-1951): Peonies(viaBonhams)