Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, Heritage Ed. 1942, Reginald Marsh illustrations
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders" by Daniel Defoe, illustrated with drawings by Reginald Marsh, published by Heritage Press, New York, 1942. First edition for Marsh illustrations.
8 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. (22.2 x 14 cm.)

Hard boards, original red-orange cloth with black/gold decoration of front board and lettering on spine [some spine fade]; ink written name on front endpaper, frontispiece, xv + 355 pages, many line illustrations, c.5 pages in the middle are wrongly bound.

Reginald Marsh (1898-1954) was an American painter, born in Paris, most notable for his depictions of life in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Crowded Coney Island beach scenes, popular entertainments such as vaudeville and burlesque, women, and jobless men on the Bowery are subjects that reappear throughout his work. He painted in egg tempera and in oils, and produced many watercolors, ink and ink wash drawings, and prints.

During the 1940s and for many years, Marsh became an important teacher at the Art Students League of New York, which ran a summer camp where Marsh's students included Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein was influenced by Marsh's subject matter in his work. Also in the '40s, Marsh began making drawings for magazines such as Esquire, Fortune, and Life.

Shortly before his death Marsh received the Gold Medal for Graphic Arts awarded by the American Academy and the National Institute for Arts and Letters