Bradley, Will (illust). FRINGILLA by R. D. Blackmore. Burrows Bros., Cleveland, 1895. 8vo., linen-backed pictorial boards, with the title and publisher's name gilded on the spine, and the top edge gilt, 125 pp.,plus ads. With 10 plates, 25 decorative borders, 16 initials and a title page, all designed by Bradley. The publisher's prospectus is laid in, and the miniature version of the poster for the book is pasted to the front pastedown. Edition limited to 600 copies (there was a special edition of 40 signed copies). An exceptionally fresh copy, Fine throughout. One of the great books of the Art Nouveau movement in the U.S.Blackmore, English, 1825-1900 planned to become a lawyer, but had health problems which turned him toward his two careers, one as a fruit grower and merchant, the other as a writer. He became a famous and successful novelist, now remembered for primarily for "Lorna Doone." He was an influence on a group of writers of romantic fiction, including Robert Louis Stevenson. Like Thomas Hardy, his interest was in writing about country life; like Walter Scott, his novels often were related to historical events.
