Green Arras
London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1896. First Edition, Second Issue with plain endpapers. Octavo, viii, 90, 16 pages, publisher's original decorative green cloth covered boards with ornate gilt decoration. Illustrated in black-and-white. Green Arras by Laurence Housman is an attractive fin-de-siècle volume of poetry and book art, first published in London by John Lane at The Bodley Head in 1896. Housman, who was both a writer and illustrator, designed and illustrated the book himself, and contemporary bibliographic records note a double-page illustrated title and additional plates by the author. The volume is especially appealing as an example of the late Victorian decorative book, combining lyric and imaginative verse with the aesthetic sensibility of the 1890s and reflecting the period’s strong interest in symbolism, design, and the book as an artistic object. It remains of interest to collectors of poetry, illustrated books, Bodley Head publications, and the broader Decadent and Aesthetic movements. Minimal rubbing and wear, else in very good + condition. Item #238
Price: $200.00