One Hundred Merrie and Delightsome Stories, right pleasaunte to relate in all goodly companie by way of Joyance and Jollity
Paris: Charles Carrington, 1899. "Illustrated by M. Léon Lebégue. #184 of a privately printed edition limited to 1250 copies. Two volumes. 8vo. 532 pp. in all. Tan pebbled leather back cover, spine and corner tips. Cloth front cover with water lily pattern printed in blue, black and tan. Top edges gilt. Original slipcase. This set is in very fine condition. So is the slipcase. It is hard to believe it is 122 years old. Item #747
Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles now first done into the English tongue by Robert B. Douglas. Illustrated by M. Léon Lebégue, the well-known Parisian artist and engraver, who has made a special study of the Manners and Customs of the Middle-Ages, and few men are better qualified to illustrate the picturesque period described in these stories, which has been his study for the last five years. These illustrations are delightfully liberal as befits the character of the stories, and yet are beyond the reproach of coarseness and vulgarity.
An interesting but tragic aside from Wikipedia about the publisher, Charles Carrington, English born, who moved to Paris to established his business. He published works of classical literature and books by Oscar Wilde and Anatole France in order to hide his "undercover" erotica publications under a veil of legitimacy. Carrington went blind as a result of syphilis and the last few years of his life were spent in poverty as his mistress stole his valuable collection of rare books. He was placed in a lunatic asylum and died in 1921.
Price: $175.00