Dante: Illustrations and Notes.

Edinburgh: T & A Constable, 1890 First edition. OCLC records only three copies in North American libraries. Original red glossy paper boards with pictorial onlay on upper board. Octavo. Illustrated frontispiece, with text "I, even I, am Beatrice" printed on vellum. Twenty engraved plates by Phoebe Traquair. Edges and joints rubbed. Spine is a little faded and has a small tear. Top edge gilt, others uncut. Gilt floral-patterned endpapers. A very good copy. Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936) was an Irish-born artist, and a key figure in the Scottish Arts and Crafts movement. She was best known for her murals, but also practiced embroidery, book-cover tooling, (truncated) jewelry, and painting. Much of Traquair's work was inspired by the intellectual content found in poetry and epic romances. In 1920, Traquair became one of the first women elected as a member of the Royal Scottish Academy. She gained international recognition, and her art can be found in England, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Although her art fell out of fashion in the 1930s, there has since been a revival of interest. (Inventory #: 17852)