Monday, July 9, 2012

Spring Flowers by Geertruida Vogel


I'm a big fan of Art Nouveau era paintings & illustrations, so when I saw the illustrations of this children's song book, I was excited! This is Spring Flowers by Geertruida Vogel with illustrations by Rie Cramer, published by A & C Black, London. I had never heard of Rie Cramer before, but wow! Her illustrations draw you right into the captured moment and melt your heart! I took some pictures of the illustrations so that you know what I'm talking about. (I didn't scan them, so the clarity and colors might not be so accurate, sorry.. The originals are much more beautiful.) In terms of restoration, the client wanted a set of new blue cloth corners and a spine with title stamped in white, and the book needed to be re-sewn with a couple of missing pages added. The cover had a water damage, but I had to leave it alone because fixing the discoloration would have damaged the printed graphics. Although this was a very simple job, one dilemma I had was to locate the laid-on illustration of Rie Cramer on the front cover that the client wished to replace as the original was severely torn and missing a majority of the piece. Somehow, I just couldn't find the particular illustration anywhere.. So I contacted a bookseller in Canada who was the only bookseller who had a copy of this book in fine condition. I asked him to scan the front cover and send it to me. I knew it was such a selfish favor to ask, but I did it for the sake of my client. To my surprise, this Canadian bookseller, Mr. Craig got back to me within 15 minutes with a jpg.!! What a generous person!!!! Thank you very much! My client will be very pleased! 

If any of you is interested in getting a copy of this wonderful book with absolutely beautiful illustrations in fine shape, please contact David J. Craig Bookseller

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