The Garden Party.

London, 48 Pall Mall: The Verona Press, [1939].. FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION, LIMITED EDITION (833/1200). Large 8vo. (25.5 x 17 cm) pp. 316 + [2] (colophon). Original publisher's decorative green cloth, red gilt lettered cloth label to spine, upper edge dyed yellow, outer and lower edges uncut. With original dustwrapper and numbered slipcase (833). 16 coloured lithographs after Marie Laurencin, the important Parisian Cubist artist whose illustrations for the present work have been described as "queer femme illustrations with a Gallic twist" (Pilcher). Light shelfwear to slipcase, very light spotting to outer edge. An excellent example overall. "One of the most highly regarded short story writers of the 20th century" (British Library), Katherine Mansfield was a New Zealand-born English master of the short story, who evolved a distinctive prose style with many overtones of poetry. Her delicate stories, focused upon psychological conflicts, have an obliqueness of narration and a subtlety of observation. The Garden Party (originally published 1922) includes "At the Bay," "The Voyage," "The Stranger" and the classic "Daughters of the Late Colonel," a subtle account of genteel frustration. Marie Laurencin was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian avant-garde as a member of the Cubists associated with the Section d'Or.