Scarce boxed anthology of stories and verse for children, brightly illustrated by Cowham, whose impish figures threatened for a time to eclipse the popularity of Kate Greenaway's pastel waifs.
Near fine in good box.
Price: $950.00
"The public has acquired a taste for the grotesque rather than the pretty. [...] Miss Hilda Cowham, who draws boys and girls with extravagantly thin and crooked legs, is the delight of illustrated papers." — 'Our Day,' Vol. 20, 1901
One of the first female illustrators for PUNCH and a friend and peer of Mabel Lucie Attwell, Cowham's distinctive long-legged figures with big hair and black stockings had attained an iconic stature by the time CURLY HEADS AND LONG LEGS was published. The Cowham Girl distinguished herself not by fashion and proportion alone, but also by a new degree of physical freedom: she bends, climbs, sprawls, and even slouches. More than one contemporary critic drew attention to the changing fashions in idealized girlhood away from Greenaway's "good, long-skirted, big-bonnetted" types to Cowham's unruly "imps" – a change that met with great popular enthusiasm, with the artist noting, "Very often I get letters from mothers saying that they have dressed their little ones like a Hilda Cowham girl." An outstanding copy.
Read more: "Baby Wit," Marlborough Express, September 1913.
London: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd, [1914]. 9.5'' x 7.25''. Original cloth-backed paper pictorial boards with pictorial paste-on. In original paper clamshell box with printed paper label. Illustrated with 12 color plates, and additional black-and-white images by Cowham. Publisher's ads at rear. 140. [4] pages. Box rather worn and toned, with reinforcements to interior hinges. Book with a couple spots to front free endpaper, faint foxing to edges, trace wear: unusually fresh and bright, no doubt thanks to the box.
We work hard to meet our ethical responsibility to describe our material accurately. All items are guaranteed as described and may be returned for any reason within 30 days. Please notify us before mailing a return.
We guarantee the authenticity of our items. All materials are original (meaning not facsimiles or reproductions) unless otherwise noted. First editions (meaning first edition, first printing) are explicitly stated. TPM is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and upholds their Code of Ethics.
All photographs are of the actual item for sale. We're happy to provide additional images on request.
All domestic orders ship gratis. For orders under $250, free USPS media mail shipping is included; orders $250 and over ship USPS Ground Advantage. International orders over $1000 also ship gratis. Expedited, overnight, as well as other carriers (UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.), may carry additional costs beyond quoted rates. All orders receive tracking information and a direct contact in case of any questions.
International buyers are responsible for any customs, taxes, and related import fees. Please note that we are unable to accomodate requests to misrepresent, misdeclare, or otherwise falsify customs documents when shipping internationally. We appreciate your understanding.
We accept all major credit cards, Paypal, Venmo, check, money order, and bank wire. We are happy to bill institutional buyers' needs. Sales tax will be added to applicable purchases. Items subject to prior sale.
If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact us. We prioritize our long-term relationships far above any individual purchase, and we want you to love your item as much as we loved cataloguing it.
