Le Printemps Sur La Neige et d'Autres Contes du Bon Vieux Temps

Paris: L'Edition D'Art, H. Piazza, 1922. Limited to three hundred copies with an extra suite of color plates, out of a total edition of 1300, this being copy no. 142.

Tall quarto (11 5/8 x 9 inches; 296 x 228 mm.). Collating 103, [5]. Bound ca. 1922 in three-quarter brown morocco over marbled boards ruled in blind by M. Albinhac (stamp-signed on verso of front flyleaf). Smooth spine with five red morocco bands decorated in gilt, multiple 'floral' onlays of green, red, brown and tan morocco, and lettered in gilt, cockerel end-papers, top edge gilt, others uncut. Publisher's original brown-gray wrappers bound-in at front and back, with pictorial stamping in green and deep reddish brown with gilt lettering. Square red leather bookplate of the renowned collector Arpad Plesch on front paste-down. Sixteen tipped-in color plates with descriptive tissue-guards (duplicate suite bound in), seven full-page drawings and and several textual drawings in black and white. A handsome book in a beautiful binding.

First edition in French, translated by Charles Guyot, of the Rackham-illustrated Little Brother and Little Sister, (1917, six color plates); Snowdrop and Other Tales by the Brothers Grimm (1920, seven color plates); Hansel & Grethel and Other Tales by the Brothers Grimm (1920, three color plates); Snowdrop and Hansel & Grethel constitute a reprint of Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm (1909, illustrated with forty color plates by Rackham). Le Printemps Sur La Neige et d'Autres Contes du Bon Vieux Temps contains eight stories from those three earlier editions in a volume with a completely different design including text borders and typographical devices, this copy including an extra set of the sixteen color plates.

Marcel Albinhac was the son and successor of Alexandre Abinhac of 41 rue Madame in Paris.

The Stories:

1. Le Printemps Sur Le Neige (Snowdrop)

2. Les Trois Désirs (The Three Wishes)

3. Le Roi De Mérchante Humeur (The Miserable King)

4. La Petite-Fille Du Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood)

5. Les Maitres Invisibles(The Invisible Masters)

6. La Pluie D'Or (The Golden Rain)

7. Le Princesse Aux Deux Visages (The Princess With Two Faces)

8. Simplette (Simplette)

The Plates:

1. From Little Brother, Little Sister. "Little Brother, Little Sister" Frontispiece. "She took off her golden garter and put it round the Roe-Buck's neck".

2. From Little Brother, Little Sister. "The Three Little Men in the Wood". Facing p.128 "What did she find there but real ripe strawberries".

3. From Snowdrop. "Briar Rose". Facing p.20 "The young Prince said, 'I am not afraid: I am determined to go and look upon the lovely Briar Rose".

4. From Little Brother, Little Sister. "The Old Woman in the Wood". Facing p.52 "Suddenly the branches twined round her and turned into two arms".

5. From Snowdrop. "Briar Rose". Facing p.18 "The king could not contain himself for joy".

6. From Snowdrop. "The four clever brothers". Facing p.72 "The King's only daughter had been carried off by a Dragon"

7. From Hansel & Grethel. "Red Riding Hood". Facing p.118 "'O Grandmother, what big ears you have got,' she said".

8. From Hansel & Grethel. "Red Riding Hood". Facing p. 116 "When she got to the wood, she met a Wolf".

9. From Snowdrop. "The Seven Ravens". Facing p.126 "But they said one after another; 'Halloa! who has been eating off my plate? Who has been drinking out of my cup?'"

10. From Hansel & Grethel. "Rapunzel". Facing p.82 "The Witch climbed up".

11. From Little Brother, Little Sister. "Snow-white and Rose-red". Facing p.12 "The end of his beard was caught in a crack in the tree".

12. From Snowdrop. "The Wolf and the Seven Kids". Facing p.44 "The seven kids and their mother capered and danced round the spring in their joy".

13. From Little Brother, Little Sister. "The True Sweetheart". Facing p.34 "The third time, she wore the star-dress which sparkled at every step".

14. From Snowdrop. "Ashenputtel". Facing p. 30 "Ashenputtel goes to the ball".

15. From Little Brother, Little Sister. "The Hut in the Forest". Facing p.206 "She begged quite prettily to be allowed to spend the night there".

16. From Snowdrop. "The Goosegirl". Facing p. 92 "Alas! dear Falada, there thou hangest".

Latimore and Haskell p. 53 (1/1300 copies); Riall p. 140 (1/1300 copies).