Undine: A Tale

Undine: A Tale, by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. Translated from the German with a critical introduction by Edmund Gosse and illustrations by William Edward Frank Britten.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1896. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-vi [viii] [1] 2-189 [190: printer's imprint] [191-192: blank], ten plates with illustrations by W. E. F. Britten, all protected by tissue guards. Publisher's original bevel-edged olive cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed.

First edition of this translation, first printing, and first English edition with Britten's striking illustrations. Gosse's translation remains one of the preferred translations of this "lovely story of a water sprite who has assumed human form and with whom the Knight of Huldbrand has fallen in love." (Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature, viii).

Illustrated by W. E. F. Britten, "genre painter and illustrator [...] who was not a prolific illustrator but an eclectic one, his designs ranging from Victorian classicism to smokey Pre-Raphaelite chalk drawings." (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914, p.244). 

Binding a little dulled with sunning to spine and towards joints, bumping to corners and further crushing and a little fraying to spine tips. Text block is lightly rolled. Front hinge is cracked with netting exposed, but binding feels otherwise secure. Offsetting to prelims, with foxing to prelims and only sporadically throughout. Bookseller's ticket to front paste-down (S. Simms, bookseller and stationer, 12, George Street, Bath), owner's initials and date to front free endpaper. A handful of small stains to pages 41 and 42, not affecting legibility. A very rare copy of this book in nice condition overall.