William Tell in Prose and Verse
WODEHOUSE, P.G.; Philip DADD (illustrator). William Tell Told Again. London: Adam and Charles Black. 1904.
4to. Publisher’s beige pictorial cloth, spine and boards illustrated in green and brown and lettered in gilt, top-edge gilt; pp. vii, [1], 106, [2 (advertisements)]; 16 colour plates by Philip Dadd including frontispiece, with tissue guards; printer’s device in red to title; spine ends bumped, light wear to corners, some spotting to rear board; uniform light spotting; else very good.
First edition, first printing of Wodehouse’s fourth novel: a humorous retelling of the William Tell legend in prose and verse, with illustrations by Philip Dadd (1880–1916).
Wodehouse recasts the familiar William Tell legend in his characteristically playful prose, using mock-heroic language, archaic expressions, and deliberately incongruous contrasts to puncture the grandeur of the original tale. The book was dedicated ‘for a Christmas present’ to Biddy O’Sullivan, the daughter of Wodehouse’s friend, the actor and singer Denis O’Sullivan (1869–1908). Each of Dadd’s illustration is accompanied by a verse description by John W. Houghton.
Provenance: From the collection of eminent Wodehouse authority and collector Tony Ring, former President of the International Wodehouse Association and former editor of Wooster Sauce.
Mcllvaine A5a.
SKU: 2126127
William Tell in Prose and Verse
WODEHOUSE, P.G.; Philip DADD (illustrator). William Tell Told Again. London: Adam and Charles Black. 1904.
4to. Publisher’s beige pictorial cloth, spine and boards illustrated in green and brown and lettered in gilt, top-edge gilt; pp. vii, [1], 106, [2 (advertisements)]; 16 colour plates by Philip Dadd including frontispiece, with tissue guards; printer’s device in red to title; spine ends bumped, light wear to corners, some spotting to rear board; uniform light spotting; else very good.
First edition, first printing of Wodehouse’s fourth novel: a humorous retelling of the William Tell legend in prose and verse, with illustrations by Philip Dadd (1880–1916).
Wodehouse recasts the familiar William Tell legend in his characteristically playful prose, using mock-heroic language, archaic expressions, and deliberately incongruous contrasts to puncture the grandeur of the original tale. The book was dedicated ‘for a Christmas present’ to Biddy O’Sullivan, the daughter of Wodehouse’s friend, the actor and singer Denis O’Sullivan (1869–1908). Each of Dadd’s illustration is accompanied by a verse description by John W. Houghton.
Provenance: From the collection of eminent Wodehouse authority and collector Tony Ring, former President of the International Wodehouse Association and former editor of Wooster Sauce.
Mcllvaine A5a.
SKU: 2126127
