Shakespeare S Comedy Of A Midsummer Night S Dream Illustrated By W Heath Robinson

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a comedy play – one of Shakespeare’s lighter works, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1597. Both in text, and on stage, it is one of Shakespeare’s most popular narratives, and remains widely performed across the world. This book, originally published in 1912, contains twelve incredible colour illustrations and many beautiful and intricate black and white drawings by W. Heath Robinson. An English cartoonist and illustrator, best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines – for achieving deceptively simple objectives. Such was (and is) his fame, that the term ‘Heath Robinson’ entered the English language during the First World War, as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance. Pook Press publishes rare and vintage Golden Age illustrated books, in high-quality colour editions, so that the masterful artwork and story-telling can continue to delight both young and old.

This enchanting volume is a new collection of W. Heath Robinson’s fantastical fairy tale art and children’s book illustrations, produced across a 50-year career during the Golden Age of Illustration. “Your absurd, beautiful drawings . . . give me a particular pleasure of the mind like nothing else in the world” —H. G. Wells, 1914 In honour of W. Heath Robinson’s 150th birthday, this brand new collection features the pioneering artist’s classic fairy tale illustrations. This carefully curated volume presents 100 black and white illustrations and 54 full-colour fairy tale artworks. Each image is presented as a full-page plate and is accompanied by its original caption and publication details. The artist is much-loved for his innovative cartoons of bizarre machinery, and his fairy tale work also displays elements of the fantastical. Robinson’s children’s drawings juxtapose his machinery cartoons. His fairy tale illustrations veer away from the absurd and explore themes of magic and romanticism. The contents of this fairy tale treasury include illustrations from some of the most-adored children's storybooks such as: The Giant Crab (1897), Arabian Nights (1899), The Adventures of Uncle Lubin (1902), Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (1913), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1914) and many more. Proudly published in a new collection by Pook Press, these wonderful Golden Age illustrations have been collated in a celebration of Robinson’s timeless work. This beautiful volume is not to be missed by fans of W. Heath Robinson and is the perfect gift for fairy tale lovers.

A complete study of the history and tradition of illustrated editions of Shakespeare, containing 167 illustrative images from major editions.