Edward Shirley — The Twins

London, Thomas Nelson and Sons, [1904]. First edition. Cloth. A smart copy of this scarce children's narrative poem of twinhood and mischief by Edward Shirley, charmingly illustrated throughout by John Hassall. In the publisher's original quarter cloth binding with pictorial paper covered boards.First edition. This copy is undated. Dated here using Jisc, from a copy held at the University of Cambridge Libraries. Illustrated with 24 full page colour illustrations. Collated, complete. A charming narrative poem tracing the small adventures of twin siblings, contrasting good behaviour and mischief as they run errands and return home. Illustrated throughout by John Hassall (1868-1948), the celebrated British poster artist and book illustrator best known for his bold line, strong colour sense, and work for Punch, London Underground posters, and Edwardian children"s books. In the publisher's original quarter cloth binding with pictorial paper covered boards. Externally, sound. Slight soiling to boards with the odd handling mark and scratch. Slight rubbing and bumping to extremities, resulting in slight loss to paper, notably to front board towards the joint. rear hinge cracked, with binding materials exposed, rear board loose but holding at rear joint cloth. Front hinge slightly cracked, but holding. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean with light scattered spotting. Hinge cracked at title page, with tearing to half of the front free endpaper, continuing slightly to title page. The odd small cross ink annotation to colour illustrations, with crossing in blue ink through the publisher information to lower title page. Good . Ill.: John Hassall. Good .