DETMOLD, E. J. (1883-1957, illustrator)

The Arabian Nights, Tales from the Thousand and One Night

London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, [1924]. 4to. (10 7/8 x 8 1/2 inches). 12 tipped-in colour plates.

Publisher's cream cloth, front cover and spine pictorial gilt stamped

First Detmold edition of The Arabian Nights, one of Hodder and Stoughton’s finely produced illustrated gift books of the 1920s, with twelve mounted colour plates by Edward Julius Detmold.

Detmold's illustrations bring the medieval Arabic and Persian story cycle into the language of early twentieth-century book illustration, combining decorative pattern, jewel-like colour, and close attention to animals, textiles, and architectural detail. His treatment of the tales marks a shift from the natural history subjects with which he was closely associated toward the more theatrical and imaginative world of romance and fantasy. Edward Julius Detmold, who had first worked in close partnership with his twin brother Maurice, became known for highly finished watercolours and book illustrations distinguished by precision of line and a strong decorative sense. After Maurice's death in 1908, Edward continued to produce illustrated books for firms including Hodder and Stoughton, among them Aesop's Fables and Fabre's Book of Insects. The selection gathers some of the most familiar stories from The Thousand and One Nights, the composite body of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Persianate tales transmitted through Arabic manuscript and print traditions and widely recast in European translation. Detmold's plates situate the stories within the deluxe illustrated book market of the interwar period, when Hodder and Stoughton continued to publish large-format gift books designed around mounted colour illustrations and decorative bindings.

Item #42682

Price: $650.00