A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go
London, New York: Frederick Warne & Co Ltd, c 1883. Randolph Caldecott. Square crown 4to, 8 x 9 1/8 inches (223 x 232 mm), 24 pp. with numerous monochrome illustrations and six full-page color illustrations. Illustrated paper boards, with advertisement at rear for other Caldecott books by this publisher. Light soiling at top edge of book and spine tips bumped, but book in near fine condition with paper evenly toned. Inscription dated 25 December 1950 on half-title.
A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go" is a traditional English folk song from the early seventeenth century about a frog who sets out to court a wife, but ends up being eaten by a duck. Caldecott personifies all the animals except the Duck, and the events of the tale are followed by a human family who witness the tragic end of the frog gobbled by the duck. No 11 of The Randolph Caldecott Picture Books, originally published in 1883.
Randolph Caldecott (1846 – 1886) was a British artist and illustrator who greatly influenced illustration of children's books during the nineteenth century. The Caldecott Medal, which annually recognizes the year's "most distinguished American picture book for children," was named in his honor. Two books illustrated by him, priced at a shilling each, were published every Christmas for eight years.
Caldecott also illustrated novels and accounts of foreign travel, made humorous drawings depicting hunting and fashionable life, drew cartoons, made sketches of the Houses of Parliament inside and out, and exhibited sculptures and paintings in oil and watercolor in the Royal Academy and galleries.
Condition: Near fine.
Item number: 1085
Price: $200.00
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