'The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Browning, illustrated by A & H Payne. *SCANNED COPY OF VERY RARE EDI

May 16, 2005 (Press Release) -- ' The Pied Piper of Hamelin' is the famed poem by Robert Browning, which he freely adapted from scores of similar folk tales down the centuries. The book was popular from day one, but then when illustrated editions began to appear sometime after it was initially published, the story, particularly as illustrated by Kate Greenaway again soared in popularity. Unusually, the edition recently re-published by John Haines, was illustrated under licence by Arthur & Harry Payne, at exactly the same time as Ms Greenaway's version was selling by the bucketload. The Payne Brothers were two Victorian illustrators, not as famed as Ms Greenaway, but every bit as brilliant if not more so, as one look at the image accompanying this release will show. And yet where is this edition now? It truly is a delightful scarcity, it is that hard to find. It may not have been a first edition, and this subsequent scan nearly 120 years later may seem to lessen the value of such a new edition, but I don't think so. It is above all, the salvaging of a book which was rapidly disintegrating, and again bringing to life the stunning illustrations of the Brothers Payne. If this had not been done, the world may well have lost a literary gem.
The book has at least a little known history. The original from which this is scanned is carefully locked away in a vault in Perth, Western Australia. It has been in the possession of the current owners since 1942, when my cousin's later-to-be wife received it as a gift. Some time before this, it was owned by Margaret Evelyn Pilkington of the famed Pilkington Glass family and Company. The book came with a gift tag, dated 1892, when the book was presented to Ms Pilkington by a Margaret Sinclair. This scanned copy also includes a copy of the gift tag. Why it ever left the Pilkingtons ownership, we can only guess.
The scanned copy is 30 pages including covers, is 8.5 by 11 full size, but with the pages all scanned graphics saved at a high DPI, and the images themselves saved at 6.0 inches by 9.0 inches, allowing them to fit neatly into the middle of each larger page. There are new colour covers, using two of the original illustrations, a new foreword, and a picture of Robert Browning. All of the scanned pages from the book are in colour. The download price is a snip at $5.00 US, the hard copy is around $14.00 & P&P.( Amended 17/5/05 to show revised hard copy price )
Why not take a look?
http://www.lulu.com/content/124380