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Crawhall, Joseph.
Old Aunt Elspa's Spelling [Bee].
Publisher: Field & Tuer, Ye Leadenhalle Presse, E. C.; Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; Hamilton, Adams & Co. London;
Date of Publication: 1884
Stock Code: 9620
First edition. Landscape octavo, pp.,21, [1]. Stab stitch illustrated paper wrappers with woodcuts to upper and lower wrappers. Wrappers loose with some small closed tears and nibbles, contents clean, tight and secure with bold and vivid impressions. Crawhall’s sequel to Old Aunt Elspa’s ABC. Illustrated throughout in Crawhall’s unique artfully naive, vernacular style and including some absurdly funny images. Crawhall’s fervent antiquarianism, and his home town’s rich history of chapbook and street literature production, greatly inspired his anachronistic illustrations. However, his bold and graphic work is also incredibly forward looking and does not look out of place alongside the work of contemporary illustrators today. A fragile production and one of Crawhall’s rarer collaborations with Andrew Tuer, it can sometimes be found hand-coloured. £200.00