Marrin's Bookshop

Synopsis

A fairy tale for a land-baby. with one hundred illustrations by lindley sambourne.

Item Description

Large 8vo. 8.25 x 6.75 inches. vi + 371 + [1] pp. All text within borders. Bound in original blue cloth, gilt, elaborately decorated with gilt blocks, with facsimile signature of illustrator. All edges gilt. A little wear to extremities and some scattered foxing largely confined to flyleaves; otherwise a very good copy. Illustrated by engraved vignettes including chapter heading decorative initials. Decorated by publisher's device on verso of half title. This Macmillan edition appeared in 1886 and was illustrated with vignettes by Punch cartoonist, Linley Sambourne (1844-1910):' The 1885 edition of The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, with 100 drawings, is his most enduring and best known work' (Linley Sambourne by Shirley Nicholson, The Victorian Web website). The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley (1819-75) had first appeared in book form in 1863. It is a didactic moral fable with a theme of Christian redemption. It relates the story of Tom, a young chimney sweep, who falls into a river, is transformed into a water baby and has numerous adventures involving fairies and various marine creatures. The novel is seen as a critique of Victorian child labour and is considered to support the ideas of Darwinism. It also portrays the widely held prejudices of the day, e.g. against Irish Catholics but is still adapted for modern audiences on stage, screen and radio.