Aesop’s Fables Thomas James, John Tenniel. 1848 1st Edition, Illustrated Antique (Second Hand)

Title: Aesop’s Fables: A New Version, Chiefly from Original Sources

Author: Rev. Thomas James, M.A.

Illustrator: John Tenniel

Publisher: John Murray, Albemarle Street, London

Year: 1848

Edition: First Edition of Thomas James’s version

Printing: 1848 first printing

Format: Hardback, later/rebound binding

Condition

Good.

An 1848 first edition of Thomas James’s Aesop’s Fables, illustrated with more than one hundred illustrations designed by John Tenniel, later famous for his illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The book has been professionally rebound at some point, in a distinctive three-quarter style binding with burgundy spine and corners and red cloth boards. Gilt title to spine. The binding remains solid, with general rubbing, marks and wear, particularly around the spine ends and corners.

The page edges appear to have been coloured, with considerable age-related toning. Internally there is moderate to heavy foxing in places, particularly to the frontispiece, title page and adjoining leaves. Further scattered foxing and age-related marking is present elsewhere. There is some wear/marking around the inner hinges/endpapers consistent with the book’s age and rebinding.

Complete condition should be judged from the photographs.

A particularly attractive early Tenniel-illustrated edition, published 17 years before his famous illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Please study the photographs carefully as they form an important part of the condition description.

Book Grading Statement

Good – An average used/antiquarian copy with visible signs of age and wear, including foxing, rubbing and age-related marking, while remaining complete and fully readable.