HEATHER LEAVES SCHOOL [with] THE ORIGINAL DUSTWRAPPER ARTWORK AND INTERNAL ILLUSTRATIONS

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original purplish brown cloth with gilt titles to the spine, lacking the rare dustwrapper. Frontispiece illustration and three further black and white plates by Percy Tarrant. A good copy, the binding firm, the extremities with a little wear and bumping. The contents, with some cracking to a few internal gutters and two plates are loose. There is a contemporary gift inscription to the front free endpaper, some spotting to the closed text-block edge and early and late pages, the loose plates are a little rubbed and have a few short closed tears at the edges, the contents are otherwise clean throughout. Together with the complete suite original gouache illustrations. Comprising the dustwrapper design and all four internal illustrations by Percy Tarrant. The original design for the dustwrapper is painted in colour gouache and includes titles and guide lines. The front panel shows a burglar being apprehended and the spine shows a girl dancing on the shoreline. Framed under glass. Near fine, the colours are bright and clear, the paper with a few tiny marks. The cover illustration measures 20.7 cm x 23.5 cm and the frame measures 33.5 x 35.3 cm. The four original internal illustrations are painted in black and white gouache and show Heather and her friends building a sandcastle, investigating a secret passage and making wreaths. Three of the four illustrations are signed at the corner. All four are window mounted and framed together under glass. Fine condition, the paint bright and clean. The four black and white illustrations each measure 13.5 x 19 cm, the mount measures 73 x 33 cm and the frame measures 80 x 39.5 cm.

A beautiful collection of every original artwork created by Percy Tarrant (1855-1934) for 'Heather Leaves School' by Elinor Brent-Dyer (1894-1969). Tarrant's sensitive use of gouache and dynamic composition perfectly captures the characteristically sensible yet adventurous spirit of classic girls' school novels. Tarrant was a popular illustrator of books and periodicals as well as an exhibiting painter. He was particularly known for his skill in depicting children, and put this ability to good use illustrating dozens of girls' and boys' school stories. He was the father of Margaret Tarrant, who was also a successful illustrator of children's books, celebrated for her fairy illustrations. 'Heather Leaves School' is the fifth book in Elinor Brent-Dyer's 'La Rochelle' series. 'La Rochelle' has some crossovers with Brent-Dyer's hugely popular 'Chalet School' series, which at 58 novels is one of the longest-running girls' school series. Several of the 'La Rochelle' series' characters grow up to become parents of children that later attend the Chalet School, and much of the action is centred on Guernsey, the location that the Chalet School relocates to during the Second World War. Unlike 'Chalet School', the 'La Rochelle' girls attend day schools rather than a boarding school, and the stories have a greater focus on romance and family drama than the daily affairs of a single school.