"Wee Miss Violet and Other Fairy Flowers", by Isadora Newman, illustrated by Willy Pogany, published by Whitman Publishing Company, 1926.

Hard boards with illustration on the front cover [some wear, especially spine covering: see photos]; 8" x 10"; color illustrations inside covers, issued without endpapers, 26 pages with monochrome line illustrations + 2 color plates on glossy paper [verso blank], very good condition.

The Stories in this book:

Wee Niss Violet
Golden Goblets of Gladness
Bronze-Heart
Golden-Rod and Star-Blue Grass
The Legend of the Apple
The Indian Pipe

Isadora Newman is a pen-name of Miriam Dorothy Newman (1878-1955), an American artist, poet, writer, playwright and storyteller. She was born and raised in New Orleans and her work reflected the influences of her youth, particularly the African American and Creole culture of New Orleans. Her father, Isidore Newman, was a New Orleans banker and businessman who later became known for his philanthropy. The Isidore Newman School in New Orleans was named for him in 1913. Miriam Newman married Edwin A. Neugass at age 23. They moved to New York, where Neugass had a seat in the Stock Exchange. The couple had three children: Bessie, James, and Edwin. She was primarily a homemaker during this time. With the children grown, Newman enrolled in classes at Columbia University. After Neugass died in October 1921, she began her career as an artist.

Newman began telling stories and folk tales at the University Settlement in New York City and local schools. She published her first collection, Fairy Flowers, in 1926, under the name Isadora Newman, which became her pen name. The large, lavishly illustrated volume was published by Henry Holt. The publisher Whitman transformed "Fairy Flowers" volume into the series of thinner books more suitable for children.

Willy Pogany (1882-1955) was a prolific artist and illustrator. He created set designs for opera and ballet, and in the 1930s and 1940s he became Art Director for several Hollywood films, such as Wonder Bar (1934), Palmy Days (1931) and Dames (1934). Born Vilmos Andras Pogany in Szeged, Austria-Hungary, he trained as an artist before moving to Munich, Paris and London, where he remained for 10 years from 1904 to 1914, working as a book illustrator. In 1910 he illustrated an edition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In 1915, he emigrated to America.

In the US, Pogany worked for Samuel Goldwyn at United Artists from 1927, creating giant-size props for the ice cream factory set in Eddie Cantor's Kid Millions (1934). His illustrations appeared in books and the magazines American Weekly, McCall's and Metropolitan; he designed movie posters, and advertisements for such products as Palmolive soap.

Pogany's murals decorated New York's Heckscher Children's Theatre and Ziegfeld Theatre, and the Niagara Falls Power Station. His portraits included film stars Miriam Hopkins, Anna May Wong and Carole Lombard.

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) --------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-6 weeks) ------ $27.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) ------- $34.50