STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

First edition with these illustrations. Limited edition. Publisher's original quarter black cloth and black paper covers, with titles and decoration in gilt to the spine and titles in blind to the upper board. In the W. A. Dwiggins illustrated slipcase. Illustrated with black and white line drawings by W. A. Dwiggins throughout. Fold-out facsimile sheet of Robert Louis Stevenson's manuscript preceding the contents page. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, with mild toning to the text block, and with very light band of toning at the lower edge of the upper board. The contents are clean throughout, and without previous owners' inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the very good, structurally sound slipcase, which is mildly toned and rubbed to the extremities, with a small chip to the paper surface to the lower right corner. The numbering to the spine ('850') is lightly faded.

Issued in an edition of 1200 copies from which this example is numbered 850. Signed by the illustrator W. A. Dwiggins in black ink on the colophon. Widely known for coining the term 'Graphic Designer' in 1922, William Addison Dwiggins (1880-1956) was an American typographer, illustrator, type designer, and calligrapher, whose typographical inventions are still employed and revered today in the world of book design and advertising. His most iconic typefaces include Metro (1929), Electra (1935), and Caledonia (1938), and their variations. As an illustrator for children's books including Stevenson's 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', Dwiggins' drawings have been praised for their 'sparing use of colour' and effective use of black and white illustrations (Encyclopedia Design, 2021). This is the definitive first edition with Dwiggins' illustrations. A trade edition was later published in Canada in 1945.