In Powder and Crinoline: Old fairy Tales

by Anne Carter, Kay Nielsen (Illustrator)

In Powder and Old Fairy Tales Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and Illustrated by Kay Nielsen was Published by Hodder & Stoughton and Printed by Henry Stone and Son, LTD Banbury. There is no publication date printed in the book, however and is presumed to be the First Edition. It is an over-sized book which features a leather spine with raised ribs and gilt lettering and details. The end-papers are glossy and marbled and the beautiful illustrations are individually mounted on a lightly textured tan paper with a garland, molding and flower design with each illustration covered by a decorated tissue sheet and a quote.

Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Art

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1979

Reviews

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must have owned something by Nielsen as a child since these pictures seemed really familiar, but he hasn't crossed my radar as an adult - not surprising since, as the author bio in the book delicately puts it, he "died in reduced circumstances" (in 1957) and his wiki entry notes that his pictures couldn't be given away. Which is baffling & bizarre since they're utterly utterly beautiful, far more so than Rackham & the others. (Also, do I detect an ukiyo-e influence?)

The re-tellings are very well done too, much better than a lot of this kind of thing.

Destined for the niece, we'll see how it goes.