AN ENDURING MAGIC
8. “The Magician Struck but his Blows Fell Wide.” Original watercolour from Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp MACKENZIE, Thomas [1920]. Original ink, watercolour and gouache on artist’s board. 235x320mm. Mounted, framed and glazed. In bright condition. [43043] £8,500 A suitably dramatic image from Yorkshire artist, Thomas Mackenzie’s best known work, Aladdin in Rhyme , de- picting the final battle between Aladdin and the Sorcerer as Aladdin seeks to rescue the Princess Bedrelbood. Born and raised in Bradford, Thomas Mackenzie’s work owes much to the influences of Kay Nielsen and Aubrey Beardsley and elements of both those artists’ work can be seen in this piece. In particular he shared their ability to imbue a scene with a wondrous quality, so appropriate for fantastic tales of the Golden Age gift book. LITERATURE: Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp in Rhyme by Arthur Ransome (Nisbet, 1920), plate XI.
floral decoration to background and gilt titles and gilt design of a ship in full sail passing before a Persian Palace. Decorative end- papers. This copy is still housed in the original glassine and the publisher’s card box, which has a colour plate on the upper cov- er. This is a beautifully designed book with twenty three lovely colour plates mounted within a decorative border and protected by a captioned tissue guard. Each page of text has the same deco- rative border. A fine copy, remarkably clean and bright. [44798] £2,500 Stories included are Sindbad the Sailor, Aladdin and The Wonderful Lamp, The Story of Three Calendars and The Sleeper Awakened.
BEAUTIFUL EDITION DE LUXE 9. Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp In Rhyme RANSOME, Arthur; MACKENZIE, Thomas [illus.] Nisbet, [1920]. First edition, Edition de Luxe in large format, printed on beautiful handmade paper. Number 213 of only 250 copies, numbered and signed by the artist. American issue with Brentano on the spine (though printed and bound in the UK with the rest of the limitation). Large quarto, 335mm x 265mm. Full white buckram with gilt embossed lettering and illustration. Top edge is gilt and others are untrimmed. From endpaper to end- paper each page is decorated with black and white drawings, in a striking Art Nouveau style. There are twelve colour plates mounted beneath captioned tissue guards, all are in perfect con- dition. The plates are vibrant and striking. A near fine copy, pre- vious owner’s name to the front blank. [39243] £2,750 This book is a wonderful collaboration of Ransome’s retelling the story of Aladdin and His Lamp and beautiful decorations by Yorkshire artist, Thomas Mackenzie. In a letter in late 1919 Mackenzie laments problems with the production of this Edition-de-Luxe saying that the sheets were not dry enough to be bound up, because of “the continuous damp weath- er and the hand made paper it is printed on”. As a result the Deluxe edition did not go on sale until sometime in 1920 (the book was aimed at the Christmas gift market of 1919). The artist also comments “there are mistakes in it due to inexperience and immaturity which I hope you will close your eyes to.” IN ORIGINAL BOX 10. Sindbad The Sailor & Other Stories From The Arabian Nights DULAC, Edmund [illus.] Hodder & Stoughton, 1914. First edition. 4to. Tan cloth with blue
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