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First Edition. Hard cover, 8vo, in dark blue-green cloth, the boards blocked in gilt with design by Will H. Bradley in a twining, Art Nouveau depiction of a young woman's face in profile, repeated among twining organic flowering vines to front board and along spine. Rear board is plain. Printed on laid paper, top edge gilt, other page edges untrimmed. 308pp. plus 1p. "By the Same Author" publisher's list. Printed by University Press, John Wilson and Son. **CONDITION: Near Fine. Corners with pin head-sized bit of wear, gilt remains bright. Light rubbing to head of spine. One very small mark to rear board, as seen, otherwise very clean boards. Bright and clean within. Rear endpaper with just the beginning of split at hinge. Ghost of bookseller penciled note to ffep. (just the indent). Lacking dust jacket. **This turn of the century "romantic novel" is a satiric take on a thirty-year old English bachelor's belated quest for romantic fulfillment. Starting out with the highest of ideals and a poetic bent, he literally hits the road, rather in Don Quixote style, to wander along the byways of Sussex in search of this mystical dryad, the woman of his dreams. At an inn, he accumulates some personal remnants of a young lady named Sylvia Joy, around whom he builds a fantasy of perfection and devotes himself to finding. Along the way, though, he happily partakes in some casual affairs, encountering various couples who begin to temper his Romantic expectations of the perfection of the marital state, in a story with almost Shakespearean levels of coincidence anad satire. "New Women" liberated from traditional mores people his quest. (In this, the work has been described as a bridge between the Romantic and Decadent movements.) It is a wonderful read, all the more so because written by a "moonstruck" male.**Liverpool-born AUTHOR and poet RICHARD LE GALLIENNE(1866-1947), had a complex personal life, with several marriages as well as an early affair with the writer Oscar Wilde. He was associated with The Rhymers Club, Yeats and would publish books of poetry, biography as well as novels, and contributed to the Yellow Book. His travels took him to New York, France and Monaco. He was also father to celebrated actress Eva Le Gallienne. Massachusetts typographer and graphic designer WILL H. BRADLEY's (1868-1962) work is very collectible. He worked earliest in his career at the University Press, Boston, thereafter at his own Springfield, MA Wayside Press, and later at New York's William E. Rudge. Very reminiscent of the book cover design work of Laurence Housman: See our items Nos. 9729 and 9668 for these cover designs. Some of Bradley's original designs were sold on to be used by other publishers, such as John Lane and The Bodley Head. (Bambace p. vii). REF: A. Bambace, "Will H. Bradley: His Work, A Bibliographical Guide," (Oak Knoll, New Castle DE, 1995.) A14. Morris and Levin (2000) No. 70. (AMJ)
Ref: FICT19 9800
$460.00