An Island Garden.
Thaxter, Celia. An Island Garden. With pictures and illuminations by Childe Hassam. Boston…: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1894.
8vo.; illustrated; illustrations offset onto facing tissue guards; hinges reinforced; contemporary owner’s signature on front endpaper; t.e.g; white cloth, decoratively stamped in gilt in an art deco floral design; covers darkened.
Boxed together with:
Thaxter, Celia. Autograph note signed, “Celia Thaxter,” to Eds. Scribner, November 17th, 1873; unlined paper affixed to first blank.
First edition; with an autograph note to Charles Scribner affixed to the first blank, forwarding her corrected proof of another book (not present): “Dear Eds. Scribner: I thank you heartily, and herewith return the corrected proof. I am sorry to give so much trouble and thoroughly appreciate your kindness. Very sincerely yours Celia Thaxter.” With Thaxter’s facsimile portrait and signature, clipped from a publisher’s catalogue, affixed to the verso of the first blank, presumably by the contemporary owner whose signature graces the front endpaper.
Signed by the illustrator on the second black: Childe Hassam / New York / Jun 19, 1916. Twenty-two color illustrations by Hassam are reproduced here, mostly flora, fauna and picturesque seascapes he encountered while vacationing at the inn run by Thaxter and her family on Appledore Island. Hassam was lured to Appledore by both its unspoiled beauty and his own attraction to the sea, as well as by Thaxter’s reputation as a hostess and by her famed island garden, which she cultivated among the rocks and the sand on the island. Hassam composed several of his light-infused landscapes and seascapes while a guest on Appledore. In Thaxter and her environment he found artistic inspiration and collaboration.
Hassam (1859-1935) is celebrated as one of America’s pre-eminent Impressionistic, “en plein air” painters; he produced visually stunning color-filled canvases and spent most of his time traveling through and working in seaside New England towns. In addition to his time spent on Appledore, Hassam produced notable works while in East Hampton, New York; Cos Cob and Old Lyme, CT.; Gloucester and Provincetown, MA.; and Newport, RI. In his youth, he studied and exhibited in Paris; later, he moved to New York City and became part of the group of New York artists called “The Ten,” which also included J. Alden Weir, John Twachtman, Robert Reid, and Willard Metcalf.
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