"Glass Slipper" and other Fairy Tales.
(Harper's: NY, mid-late c.19). Original 19th c. engraved wood block. 4 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. Old King Cole is surrounded by fairy tale figures. At his feet are little girls bearing a banner "Glass Slipper" and a slipper on a pillow. They are flanked by Little Bo Peep & Little Boy Blue; a boy knight & Bluebeard ?, boy with a pumpkin, witch with a cat. Jack & Jill fall from the sky with their pail. Signed in the block by the artist and the engraver.
The engraving is comprised of 4 blocks pinned together. There's a brief hairline separation between two blocks at the top. Fine condition. Item #19005
This may have been a frontispiece to one of Harper's books. A rare survival, acquired from Lloyd Morgan whose antique type collection is at the Smithsonian. When photomechanical processes replaced wood engraving by the 1890s, most wooden blocks were discarded or used for fuel. Morgan said ''Some shops were using wooden type to heat the place. We ran into a shop in Philadelphia that had been burning wood type in its stove for three years.'' –Westchester Journal, July 26, 1981.
Price: $385.00