P. G. Wodehouse — William Tell Told Again

London, Adam and Charles Black, 1904 . First edition. Cloth. The first edition of this early title by P. G. Wodehouse, comprised of a poetical retelling of the legend of William Tell, complete with fifteen colourful illustrations from Philip Dadd. First edition, first impression.Bound in the publisher's original pictorial cloth. Illustrated with a frontispiece and fifteen beautiful colour plates by the renowned British illustrator Philip Dadd, the nephew of both the artist Richard Dadd, and the prolific illustrator Kate Greenaway. Collated, complete. An early work by P. G. Wodehouse, comprised of a retelling of the legend of William Tell, in prose and verse. Wodehouse provided the prose aspect, with the verse accompaniment compiled by John W. Houghton. William Tell is the heroic titular character from the Swiss folk tale, in which, according to legend, Tell used his expert marksman and mountain-climbing skills to assassinate the tyrannical head of the Austrian dukes at the House of Habsburg. The legend has received many adaptations in print, the first written records appearing in the 15th century. With fourteen pages of publisher's advertisements to the rear. Bound in the publisher's original pictorial cloth. Externally, sound, with light soiling to the cloth and darkening to the spine. Light rubbing to extremities and joints, slightly pulled to the backstrip. Front hinge is strained after front endpaper. Internally, binding is tender in places, with a few of the plates detached but present. Pages are generally bright, with scattered spotting throughout. Good . Ill.: Philip Dadd. Good .