Peacock Pie A Book of Rhymes

London: Constable and Co Ltd., 1920. First edition. Cloth. Very Good. 8.5" by 7". W. Heath Robinson . A lovely first edition second impression copy of this charming poetry collection by Walter de la Mare. Walter de la Mare was the prolific author of many volumes of poetry, short stories and novels, including one of the most enduringly popular poems in the English language, 'The Listeners'. Within this text, de la Mare's best poetry is thematically organised into sections such as: "Up and Down" "Boys and Girls" "Three Queer Tales" "Places and People" "Beasts" "Witches and Fairies" "Earth and Air" "Songs" Copiously illustrated throughout by the prolific children's illustrator William Heath Robinson, who was best known for his depictions of unlikely machines that later became a staple of his artistic style. A first edition, second impression copy. In the publisher's original cloth binding with charming gilt and white pictorial design to the front board. Externally, bumped and rubbed to extremities and head and tail, resulting in slight loss to head and tail of spines. Very slight rubbing to joints and slight marking to boards. Hinges split and tender, more severe to front hinge. Prior owner's booksellers label tipped to front pastedown. Slight age toning to endpapers. Internally firmly bound. Pages slightly age toned to edges but bright and clean. Very light scattered spots to the occasional page, heavier to first and last few pages. The odd faint handling mark to the occasional page. Small closed tear to fore edge of page 100, not affecting text. Very Good