Lyrics Pathetic & Humorous from A to Z signed by Edmund Dulac first edition 1908

Dulac's alphabet inscribed to fellow artist Ernest Yarrow Jones in the year of publication.

Dulac, Edmund (1882-1953). Lyrics Pathetic & Humorous from A to Z. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co., 1908.

First edition. Presentation copy inscribed on the front free endpaper: "To my dear friend E. Y. Jones / with all best wishes / from / Edmund Dulac / Nov. 1908." Quarto, unpaginated, with twenty-four full-page colour illustrations incorporating the accompanying verses, the letters X, Y and Z sharing a single illustration. Decorative title-page and pictorial endpapers. Original cloth-backed bevelled pictorial boards, decorated in colours and gilt. Boards well preserved, with light rubbing and a small mark towards the foot of the lower board. Browning to the front free endpaper. Binding split internally at the illustration for A, exposing the inner binding but holding; the leaf for V beginning to separate at the head, also still attached. The illustrated leaves otherwise clean. A very good copy.

An alphabet written and illustrated by Dulac, pairing comic verses with an Afghan ameer playing the accordion, a fanciful frog, a vigorous violin-playing vicar and other improbable characters. A warm presentation inscription to the painter, sculptor and illuminator Ernest Yarrow Jones (1872-1951), who were lifelong friends and correspondents. Provenance: Ernest and Mary Yarrow Jones, by descent. It is a rare book to find signed by Dulac.