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Vintage Penguin Illustrated Classics, Rare Full Collection 10 Books 1938 1st Edition

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£150.00

First (and only) edition (1938) Penguin Illustrated Classics with wood engraving illustrations - full collector's set of ten books. 

In 1938, Penguin collaborated with a group of wood engraver artists to produce a limited edition collection of ten books. The series was not economically viable due to the increased cost of printing with illustrations and so the collection was discontinued within the same year. This makes the books rare and very desirable collector items.

Title in the series are: 

1. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen with wood engravings by Helen Binyon. 

2. A Sentimental Journey. Laurance Sterne with wood engravings by Gwen Raverat.

3. Some Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Edgar Allen Poe with wood engravings by Douglas Percy Bliss.

4. Walden. Henry David Thoreau with wood engravings by Ethelbert White (with dust jacket). 

5. Selected Poems. Robert Browning with wood engravings by Iain Macnab (with dust jacket).

6. Robinson Crusoe (1). Daniel Defoe with wood engravings by J.R. Biggs.

7. Robinson Crusoe (2). Daniel Defoe with wood engravings by J.R Biggs. 

8. Typee. Herman Melville with wood engravings by Robert Gibbings (with dust jacket).

9. The Story of my Heart. Richard Jefferies with wood engravings by Gertrude Hermes.

10. Gulliver's Travels. Jonathon Swift with wood engravings by Theodore Naish.

All books are in excellent condition for their 84 years! Cover colours are still bright, all spines and pages are in tact and evenly faded, minimal foxing in a couple of the books. It has taken a long time for us to gather the full collection together and some collectors spend years looking for that one remaining elusive title to complete their full set.
We are not able to split this set but do have a few extra copies of some titles, so do get in touch if there is one you are searching for and we might be able to help.
At the moment we have shipping set for UK, USA, Canada and Australia. If you would like us to look into shipping outside those countries please get in touch - hello@bookish.ly.

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