"Tales of a Russian Grandmother, Genuine Stories of Old Russia", [Russian Fairy Tales], retold by Frances Carpenter, illustrated by Ivan Bilibine (Bilibin), published by Junior Books, Doubleday and Doran, New York, later printing of the first edition with '1939' on the title page and copyright 1933 by the author.

The wood-engravings are marked 'IB" and most of them are dated "1933" or "1932" (engraved signature and date). The engravings and color plates were specially created by Ivan Bilibin for this book.

Hard cover boards, red cloth [some wear and fade]; 5.1/2" x 8"; color frontispiece; red 'library discarded' and library blind stamp on the title page; 292 pages + complete all 8 color plates [including frontispiece] and 8 b/w plates + numerous b/w text illustrations and decorations, some soiling, a few corner folds, good+/ very good condition. All listed plates are present.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942) was a Russian illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Russian Art Nouveau art group "Mir iskusstva," contributed to the Ballets Russes, and co-founded the Union of Russian Artists. He gained popularity with his illustrations to Russian folk tales and Slavic folklore. His work was throughout his career inspired by the art and culture of ancient Rus.

Frances Aretta Carpenter (1890-1972) was an American folklorist, author, and photographer. She traveled to, and published collections of folk stories from, nations on five continents. In 1930, Carpenter published Tales of a Basque Grandmother, her first collection of folktales. This would also be the first of her popular Grandmother series, where she used the device of a central organizing narrator to convey details of national culture as well as its folk legends. But her real breakthrough would come three years later with the publication of Tales of a Russian Grandmother, (1933) printed with the now classic illustrations by Ivan Bilibin.

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) ------ $18.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-7 weeks) ----- $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-10 weeks) ----- $48.50