The Pied Piper of Hamelin

London: Frederick Warne and Co., Ltd.. Near Fine in Poor dust jacket. c. 1903. First Edition Thus. Later Printing. Hard Cover. Quarter bound in publisher's peach cloth over paper-covered illustrated boards, green lettering on spine, illustrated endpapers. Profusely illustrated in color by Kate Greenaway, and engraved and printed at 154 Clerkenwell Road in London by Edmund Evans. Robert Bowning, using the "Verstegan" version of the Pied Piper tale (1605, the earliest account in English) and adopting a 1376 date for the actual event, wrote this poem, which was first published in his "Dramatic Lyrics" (1842). Browning's retelling in verse is notable for its humour, wordplay, and jingling rhymes. These illustrations were first prepared by Greenaway for a Routledge edition in 1888, and the rights were then granted to Warne around 1903, after which Warne produced several editions. [Schuster & Engen]. Evans used a woodblock printing technique known as chromoxylography which allowed a variety of hues and tones to be produced by mixing colours. The process was complicated and required intricate engraving to achieve the best results. Evans possessed a meticulous eye for detail and used a hand-press and as many as a dozen colour blocks for a single image. He was the preeminent wood engraver and colour printer in Britain during the second half of the 19th century.. The volume is in excellent condition, with only minor wear at head and heel of spine and along edges; else as new; unmarked, tight, square, and clean. All text and illustrations bright and clean. The clipped (still showing a price of 15/-) dust jacket, now in Mylar, is torn, with significant loss. NEAR FINE/POOR. . Color Illustrations. 4to 11" - 13" tall. 48 pp .