The Admirable Chrichton - Illustrated by Hugh Thomson - 235 Pages PLUS
Quality Street - A Comedy In Four Acts - Illustrated by Hugh Thomson - 198 Pages
By J.M. Barrie
Published by Hodder & Stoughton: London c1910 (undated)
"Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (9 May 1860 - 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (first included in Barrie's 1902 adult novel The Little White Bird), then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland.
This handsome volume published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, brings together two of J. M. Barrie's most beloved stage works—The Admirable Crichton and Quality Street—each beautifully illustrated by the celebrated artist Hugh Thomson. In The Admirable Crichton (235 pages), Barrie presents a witty social comedy that inverts Edwardian class conventions: when an aristocratic family and their servants are shipwrecked on a deserted island, the capable butler Crichton naturally assumes leadership, proving the absurdity of rigid social hierarchies. Upon their rescue, however, the order of society is restored, exposing Barrie's bittersweet view of human nature and class dependency. Thomson's detailed pen-and-ink illustrations capture both the play's humour and its quiet pathos, emphasizing Barrie's deft balance between satire and sentiment.
Quality Street (198 pages), also included in the volume, is a charming romantic comedy set during the Napoleonic era, following the spirited Miss Phoebe Throssel, who reinvents herself as her own younger "niece" in a playful deception of manners and identity. The play explores themes of love, aging, and the constraints placed upon women in polite society, infused with Barrie's signature blend of tenderness and irony. Hugh Thomson's period illustrations—delicate, lively, and full of character—enhance the nostalgic atmosphere and genteel humour of the text. Together, these two works represent Barrie at his most graceful and observant, pairing elegant theatrical storytelling with Thomson's masterful visual interpretation in one of the finest illustrated editions of early 20th-century British drama."
Light wear and minor rub through to covers and spine with a stain affecting the front cover lower left 1/4 of Quality Street as shown. Endpapers tanned and with prize plates present in both volumes. Pages generally well presented with some age toning and light foxing present. Beautifully illustrated with tipped in colour plates - all present across both volumes. Both volumes in good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
