Description
Book SynopsisOscar Wilde's fairy tales are some of his most elegant and charming pieces of writing. He produced two books of fairy tales -- THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES, and A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES . They've rarely been collected in one volume -- and never with stunning artwork by Yuko Shimizu (THE UNWRITTEN, BARBED WIRE BASEBALL, A WILD SWAN), one of the modern masters of illustration and graphic art. Wilde's original fairy tales are moving, sweet, sad and magical -- much like Yuko's artwork. Yuko is one of the most celebrated and admired editorial illustrators in the world, and her work is perfectly aligned with Wilde's witty, rueful voice. The edition also features an original introduction by the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Michael Cunningham. Illuminated Editions is a series of works of classic fiction, prose, and poetry, beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated in exquisitely produced small-batch editions. These volumes intend to harken back to the lovingly crafted, handsomely bound illustrated books of the Victorian era and the golden age of illustration, re-imagined using modern design sensibilities and the most modern techniques in presentation, book-craft, and printing. Each cloth-bound volume in this series is presented in a die-cut slipcase, printed on high quality wood-free uncoated paper, and powerfully elaborated by one of the finest graphic artists in the world.
Trade Review“I feel certain that these stories have waited almost 130 years to find their true, visual mates – to find, in Shimizu's illustration, a gift that actually stands up to Wilde's in its unflinching embrace of the fabulous, complex, magical world in which we have always lived.” THE FAIRY TALES OF OSCAR WILDE has won the Communication Arts Design Competition, and won Bronze and Silver Cubes from the Art Director's club in the categories of Design and Illustration.
"These editions hearken the illustrious past of bookmaking, while also adding a tantalizing contemporary take." -- Sarah Rose Sharp * Hyperallergic *
"Shimuzu’s illustrations are varied, powerful, and often evoke batik and other resist-dyeing techniques. As impressive as the illustrations are, the design of the book matches them with elegance and inspired use of color and pattern to set each story in its own frame...These limited-edition crowd-funded volumes raise the bar to the highest level of quality and artistry." -- Karen Haber * LOCUS Magazine *
"Produced in the spirit of the books that Wilde himself saw through the press, [this volume] certainly constitutes one of the most beautiful, artistically designed editions of any of Wilde’s writings." -- Nicholas Frankel * The Wildean *
Table of ContentsTHE FAIRY TALES OF OSCAR WILDE THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES I. The Happy Prince II. The Nightingale and the Rose III. The Selfish Giant IV. The Devoted Friend V. The Remarkable Rocket A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES VI. The Young King VII. The Birthday of the Infanta IIX. The Fisherman and his Soul IX. The Star-child
