Randolph Caldecott + Francisco Goya Books (1887 + 1914). 

Sizes:  9 5/8 x 7 1/4 in. 8 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. 

These two books are titled Randolph Caldecott: A Personal Memoir of His Early Art Career and Francisco Goya, A Study of the Work and Personality of the Eighteenth-Century Spanish Painter and Satirist.  

The Caldecott book was written by Henry Blackburn and published in London in 1887 by Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, printed in London and Bunguy by Richard Clay and Sons, and it has gilt lettering on the spine and front cover, dark endpapers with the bookplate of Josiah Richardson, the half title and title page, a two-page Preface, one page of Contents, a six-page list of illustrations, 210 pages of text, a six-page Appendix at the rear which lists Caldecott’s picture books, there are 172 illustrations in the book, and all the edges are gilt.   

Randolph Caldecott (1846 - 1886) was a British artist and illustrator known for his colored book illustrations; the Caldecott Medal was named in his honor, awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children, and public-school libraries know this award very well. Caldecott fell ill and died while visiting St. Augustine, Florida in 1886. 

The book measures 8 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches wide and is in very good condition, with a tight binding and clean pages and text. There are light bumps on the heel and crown, light fading of the gilt on the spine, light rubbing at the tips, a pencil notes on a front endpaper, a slight paper adhesion on the front paste-down, faint brown spots on the half-title page and the last page of the appendix, and still an attractive copy of this book.  

The Goya book was written by Hugh Stokes and is a first edition (there is just a single date and no other printings on the title page). It is 3/4 bound with five raised bands, gilt lettering, gilt decorations, and “1914” in gilt on the spine, marbled boards, pale green endpapers with “Esther Zolina” inscribed on the front free flyleaf, a list of books by Hugh Stokes after the half-title, a frontis portrait of Goya and the title page, the book was published in New York by G P Putnam's Sons and Herbert Jenkins in London in 1914 and printed by the Anchor Press in England, with a six-page Preface (vii - xii), a five-page list of Contents, a one-page list of Illustrations, and 324 pages of text. Following the text is a catalogue of paintings by Goya (325 - 354) with uncut pages, the etchings of Goya (355 - 373), a two-page list of the lithographs of Goya (374 - 375), a Bibliography with uncut pages (376 - 382) and an Index that runs from 383 to 397, and pages 325 - 374 seem like a catalogue raisonne of Goya’s works.  

It measures 9 5/8 x 7 1/4 inches wide and is in very good condition. The binding is tight, and the pages and text are very clean, as are the illustrations; there is light rubbing on the edges of the spine and at the bottom and top edges of the covers, light wear at the crown and the tips, and an attractive comprehensive copy of this book on the life of Goya.    

#6165