Second edition. Publisher's original brown cloth with gilt titles and decoration to the spine and a gilt vignette to the upper board. All edges gilt. Illustrated with four superb hand-coloured plates. A wonderful fine copy, the binding square, firm and bright. The contents with the bookplate of the literature scholar Nathan Comfort Starr to the front pastedown, minor offsetting from the plates and a little marking to the endpapers are otherwise in good order and clean throughout. The hand-coloured plates remain bold and fresh.
A scarce early work by Kingston. The hand-coloured plates by Königstadt accompanying this unusual "fairy tale of the southern seas" are especially striking, depicting the fantastical sea creatures of King Neptune's court as well as the adventures of the princess heroine, with her crown, dress and angle bracelets all picked out in gilt. An exceptional copy.
Stock code: 17594
£375