Title: Rhymes Without Reason
Publisher: Eyre and Spottiswoode, London
Publication Date: 1944
Binding: Cloth
Condition: Near Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Edition: First Edition.
38 printed pages. Sixteen brightly coloured fsurrealist, full-page, glossy plates, one for each of the nonsense verses by Mervyn Peake. 178 x 234 mm. Original pale yellow cloth with green titliling on spine and front cover (a few marks on front cover; top edges slightly dust-stained). Complete with original unclipped dustwrapper (frayed at hinges and along lower edges; some creases and small losses at head and tail of spine and at the top of the back panel).
Mervyn Peake wrote nonsense verse throughout his life - this is an idiosyncratic collection of his writing, accompanied by joyful colour illustrations. The 1940s are Peake's most creative decade of illustrating and his work at this time featured antiquated, gothic backdrops of Victorian cultural tropes that seeped into contemporary life, with a dark side similar to that of Edward Gorey's work.
OLCL number, 503632824. WorldCat locates a single copy of this edition (British Library).
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