Colin Inman The A & C Black Colour Books: A Collector's Guide and Bibliography 1900-1930 , London: Werner Shaw Limited, 1990.

Illustrated by Colour Plates. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo 0907961053 into the Edwardian family home at a time when travel, especially overseas, was much more difficult than it is today. For the first time books containing large numbers of colour plates - up to 100 per volume - were made available to the public at an affordable price. Using the newly invented three colour process to reproduce the illustrations, most of them in the unfashionable medium of watercolour, the 90 plus volumes also carried elaborately decorated covers in gilt and other colours. Their success was immediate and led A & C Black to publish numerous smaller and cheaper series of books, some intended for children, many of which recycled the same illustrations. For long disregarded by book collectors, these ornate volumes returned to favour in the 1980s - as did the work of the artists who illustrated them. This book is the first attempt to record and classify the bulk of A & C Black's colour book output during the first thirty years of this century. A commentary on the books' production draws extensively on the publisher's records and correspondence and deals with numerous bibliographical points and information of interest to collectors. The bibliography, of over 800 books in 50 different series, has been compiled from the publisher's records and other sources, and includes a list of the colour postcards published by A & C Black and other postcard publishers. The book also includes an alphabetical index of artists and authors with brief biographical details where these are known. The illustrations have been chosen to show the different types of books produced, including a range of variants in the covers of particular series. Jacket design by Alan Downs. Cover illustration shows part of the complete collection of the 20s series held by Terry Bull. A collector's guide and bibliography 1900-1930. An invaluable reference for buyer and seller alike. 307pp illustrated in colour and black and white. (Book ref. 130158)  £45.00

The payment methods accepted by the seller, Charles Bossom , are shown in the right-hand column.

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