FORTY-FOUR TURKISH TALES

BY DR. IGNACZ KUNOS   

ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILLY POGANY

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY     LONDON      1913

Rare first edition.  No date; circa 1913 matching first edition from George G. Harrap in design and dimensions.  As Harrap edition, stated at colophon: "Printed at the Ballantyne Press, London".  Oversize 7 1/2" x 9 3/4" design.  Cream cloth boards w/elaborate gilt and teal ornamentation and design, moderate shelf, corner wear, rub, discoloration.  Thick deckled pages very good, no writing; some smudge.  Detailed imagery in teal and brown hues at front, back endps.  Fine string-bind, good, square; front hinge reinforced. 

Elaborate, profuse, symbolical and complexly illustrated edition by Willy Pogany. Includes fifteen exquisite tipped-in plates in subdued hues of teal, orange and beige affixed to heavy silver-grey stock, twenty-six plates superbly executed in black and white, drawings and vignettes, decorations at chapter ends, large color illustrations intertwined throughout. Flourishing borders, accents, colors; some chiaroscuro among other varied methods.  Willy Pogany captures the surreal and humoured enchantment of these magical tales.  Antiquarian bookstore label inside cover: "Des Forges, Books De Luxe, Milwaukee".  Near very good first edition thus of the rare original Crowell edition.

Ignác Kúnos was a Hungarian linguist, turkologist, folklorist, a correspondent member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and one of the most recognised scholars of the Turkish folk literature and dialectology.   From preface: The stories comprising this collection have been culled with my own hands in the many-hued garden of Turkish folklore.  They have not been gathered from books, for Turkey is not a literary land, and no books of the kind exist; but, an attentive listener to "the storytellers" who form a peculiar feature of the social life of the Ottomans, I have jotted them down from time to time, and now present them, a choice bouquet, to the English reading public. The stories are such as may be heard daily in the purlieus of Stamboul, in the small rickety houses of that essentially Turkish quarter of Constantinople where around the tandir the native women relate them to their children and friends. 

This volume is a treasure chest of classic Eastern tales drawing on the rich folklore of Turkey. Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales has not been in print for almost 100 years, mainly because the original edition had lavish production standards. On the used market, mint copies of the 1913 original can cost up to four figures. This volume is appropriately titled Fairy Tales because something definitely 'fairy' occurs.  There are talking animals, flying horses, birds that magically change into beautiful maidens, quests to win the hand of a princess, magical objects, simple, yet brave, peasants, wizards, witches, dragons and dungeons, epic journeys, and loveable fools.  The majority of these stories contain encounters with 'Dews', or Turkish supernatural beings, better known in the West as 'Genies.'  Sometimes the Turkish Dews are also called 'Arabs!'  There are many other specifically Turkish elements and references in the stories, for which the glossary at the end of the book is of particular help.  So this isn't simply an orientalised set of European Tales, but was drawn from an authentic Turkish oral storytelling tradition by Dr. Ignácz Kúnos. Plus, there are almost 200 illustrations exquisitely crafted by Willy Pogany. 

Willy Pogany (1882-1955) was a prolific Hungarian book illustrator best known for his pen and ink drawings of myths and fables.  A large portion of Pogany's work can be termed Art Nouveau.  Pogany's artistic style is heavily fairy-tale orientated and often features motifs of mythical animals such as nymphs and pixies. His dreamy colour illustrations are exemplified by the tipped-in plates in this volume but his pen and ink drawings also portray the extent of his talent.   Here, the poetical text is majestically illustrated with the ethereal imagery of Willy Pogany.  A rare and beautifully crafted book.  4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.  363 pages.  Insured post.