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Wet Magic
E[dith] Nesbit
This is one of 11 dust-jackets designed by Blampied for new editions published in 1923 of novels and stories by E. Nesbit, a prolific and famous children's writer. The panels of nine jackets are pasted into Blamped's personal album of wrappers, two of which are known only from this album. Four more titles by E. Nesbit were later reprinted by Fisher Unwin, but not with a jacket designed by Blampied. At least two of these later titles, The Magic City and The Wonderful Garden, have a jacket signed Nick
, which is the diminuitive used by John Nicolson, a close friend of Edmund Blampied.
The 11 books with jackets designed by Blampied were reissued by T. Fisher Unwin until they merged with Ernest Benn Limited in 1928, who continued to use the same jacket design into the 1940s. While it would be nice to show the first use of the jacket design, the jackets of books for children do not always survive, so I have shown the jacket of the best edition, which may be the Benn edition, if that's all I have. It may not be exactly the same as the first impression, so I have shown the panel of the jacket from Blampied's personal album, which is assumed to be the first impression to use his design. According to notices in the Press the publishers issued a free illustrated booklet in 1923 to advertise the 11 titles in the uniform series.
This title was first published by T. Werner Laurie in 1913, so the T. Fisher Unwin edition of 1923 is the second edition. It is the first edition to use a dust jacket designed by Blampied which has been seen only on the 2nd impression dated 1926 and the eighth impression publihsed by Ernest Benn in 1947. Presumably the jacket was used on the 3rd to 7th impression as well. The second impession doesn't have a colour frontispiece but the eighth impression does.
E. Nesbit (1858-1924) was a writer and socialist. In 1880 she married Herbert Bland and with him was one of the founder members of The Fabian Society. Bland died in 1914 and she married in 1917 Thomas Terry Tucker.
First edition, thus
Bibliography code: TFU-23.13i
Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin, then Ernest Benn Limited
Series: E Nesbit's Children's Stories
Year: 1923
Format: 8vo
Pages: 274
Binding: Red cloth with title, author and impressed and picture of two sea horses; title, author and publisher in gold on spine an impressed image of a mermaid.
Size: 190 x 134 mm approx
Dust jacket: signed Blam, lower right of centre
Price: 6 shillings in 1923 (from adverts)
Internal illustrations: First two impressions have a line drawing as a frontispiece and 7 line drawings none of which are signed, but the US edition (see below) credits the artist H.R. Millar. The Benn impression of 1947 had a colour frontispiece
Printing history: First published in 1913 according to Jisc; this the first Fisher Unwin edition; 2nd impression 1924; 8th impression, 1947
Printed by: Unwin Brothers, Limited, London and Woking
Notes: The second impression, and presumably the first, does not have a colour frontispiece. My copy has the autograph on a standard bookplate of Laetitia Repington (1911-2004), later Stapleton, dated February 1925. She wrote a memoir of Sussex County Cricket Club. Her father was Charles à Court Repington a soldier and journalist who is credited with coining the term 'First World War'.
Dust jacket of the 3rd impression of 1923 (click to enlarge)
Panel of dust jacket from Blampied's album (click to enlarge)
4th to 8th impression
Bibliography code: TFU-23.13ii
Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin, then Ernest Benn Limited
Series: E Nesbit's Children's Stories
Year: 1929 - 1947
Format: 8vo
Pages: 274
Binding: Blue plain cloth board; title, author and publisher in gold on spine; plain rear boards.
Size: 187 x 126 mm approx
Dust jacket: signed Blam, lower right of centre
Price: 6 shillings in 1947 (from jacket)
Dust jacket of the 8th impression of 1947 (click to enlarge)
Internal illustrations: Colour frontispiece of drawing by Blampied and 7 line drawings none of which are signed
Printing history: First published in 1913 according to Jisc; first Fisher Unwin edition, 1926; first Benn edition, 1929; 5th imp, 1934; 6th imp, 1941; 7th imp, 1945; 8th imp, 1947
Printed by: Neill and Co., Ltd., Edinburgh
Notes:
U.S. edition
Bibliography code: TFU-23.13iii
Publisher: Coward-McCann Inc., New York
Year: 1937
Format:
Pages: 244
Binding: Blue cloth with title and author in black on cover; title, author and published in black on spine
Size: not known
Dust jacket: Central part of drawing signed Blam
Internal illustrations: Frontispiece of jacket drawing; other drawings in line by H.R. Millar
Price: $2.00
Dust jacket of U.S. edition (click to enlarge)
Printing history: not known
Printed by: Van Rees Press
Notes: There may be an earlier edition than this one, which is dated 1937