Phantastes : A Faerie Romance for Men and Women.
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1858. First edition, second state [ads dating July 1859]. Half red crushed morrocco, over marbled paper, top edge gilt. Very faint rubbing to spine, still fine. Item #213577
From the family of George MacDonald! The bookplate on the front paste down belonged to Christopher Peter Macdonald, great great grandson of George Macdonald. The bookplate is the same William Blake image ("Death's Door") that George Macdonald used. The image was produced in 1813 for Robert Blaire's Poem "The Grave." This image was the adopted bookplate of his eldest son Greville, who added the latin phrase "Per Mare per Terras Domum tu erras" (through the sea, through the land, you wander homeward).
MacDonald's influence, particularly through this work, on literary giants such as Lewis Carroll and C.S. Lewis, among others, cannot be understated.
Price: $4,000.00