The Garden Party and Other Stories (Limited Edition)

An extraordinary collection of Mansfield's best works, beautifully illustrated in colour by Marie Laurencin, and published by one of the finest European private presses of the 20th century. Virginia Woolf, not given to easy admiration, admitted that Mansfield's was the only writing she had ever been jealous of.

This edition was printed in 1939 at Giovanni Mardersteig's legendary Officina Bodoni press in Verona, among the most distinguished private presses of the twentieth century. It was intended as a gathering of the best of Mansfield's work across her entire career, and its contents deliberately differ from those of the 1922 collection published under the same title. The outbreak of war prevented its distribution; the edition sat unissued for eight years, finally reaching the public in 1947 through William Collins.

Marie Laurencin, the French painter and printmaker who moved in the circle of Picasso and the Cubists, provided sixteen coloured illustrations to this edition. These works do a fantastic job of augmenting and vivifying Mansfield's prose.

Limited edition, number 534 of 1200 copies. First edition thus. Large Octavo. Original publisher's patterned green and cream cloth, gilt titling to spine on red panel. Title page printed in orange and black. [xii], 316, [ii] pp., illustrated with 16 colour lithographs by Marie Laurencin throughout. Fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Publisher's note tipped in on tan paper following copyright page. Printed dust jacket. Numbered slipcase. Slipcase shelf worn at edges, some minor staining along lower face. Jacket shows a chip to the spine foot, some creasing along edges, and some chipping to the front fold-over crease. Volume excellently preserved and presenting beautifully. Some scattered markings to contents; otherwise fresh and bright throughout. Printed at the Officina Bodoni, Verona, in Centaur type, on handmade paper. Designed by Hans Mardersteig. 

This book is currently on display in our Paddington store.

If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au

Catalogue Number: HH000151