CRANE, Walter (1845-1915), illustrator. Flowers from Shakepeare's Garden. London: Cassell & Co., 1906
First edition, accompanied by five original watercolors by Walter Crane: depicting Cytherea (Aphrodite) and the personifications of Rosemary, Pansies, Fennel, and Columbine, each with Crane's monogram in red ink. They correspond to the book illustrations on pp. 5, and 20-23 (from Ophelia's speech in Hamlet). Additionally, the book is signed by Lionel Crane, the artist's son, and accompanied by a 1928 typed letter authenticating the drawings and referring to them as "in [my father's] best decorative manner."
Quarto (247 x 182mm). Chromolithographed throughout including pictorial title-page. Original quarter cloth and color pictorial boards (faded, edges worn, partially erased gift inscription). The five drawings are loose on 248 x 175mm sheets (some soiling, marginal dampstain at top of last drawing and slightly to Rosemary). Housed together in a quarter morocco solander box by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Provenance: Lionel F. Crane (signature on dedication leaf) – Charles C. Auchincloss, 1881-1961 (bookplate) – Sotheby's New York, 2 June 1995, lot 80.