HOW CINDERELLA WAS ABLE TO GO TO THE BALL. A Brochure on Batik.

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original colourfully illustrated paper covered boards. Illustrated by Jessie M. King with 16 tipped in colour plates, and black and white photographs of King's batik works. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the boards with a little dustiness and very lightly worn to the corners and edges. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. A lovely copy of an uncommon title.

An unusual and charming little book that will particularly delight anyone that has an interest in both textiles and fairy tales, as in it King presents an instructional text on how to batik in the form of a fairy tale, in which Cinderella's fairy godmother is a magically-aided batik maestro whose textile expertise allows Cinderella to go to the ball. Impressively, the text succeeds on both counts, with the story being very engaging in its own right, while containing a lot of useful, surprisingly detailed practical information on batik and dying methods. The photographs of King's batiks show how beautiful the results can be. The main story is followed by an after word, containing a little historical background on batik and recounting how King herself learned how to batik. Although now best known for her illustrations, King worked in many areas of design, including fashion and textiles, and her fabric designs were sold at Liberty.