The Innocent Wayfaring (Dedication Copy)

London: Phoenix House Ltd., 1956. The DEDICATION COPY of this historical tale of the 14th century. Near Fine condition. Clean, square, and tight. Inner hinges are perfect. The binding is the original blue boards, stamped in shiny silver on the spine. In addition to her considerable talents as a biographer and literary historian, the author was a gifted artist who attended the Minneapolis School of Art. She has handsomely illustrated this book with endpaper maps, and decorated head and tail pieces at the start and end of each chapter. This is the DEDICATION COPY (probably one of two -- one per sister). The book's printed dedication is "To My Sisters." On the same page the author has sketched a delightful winged gargoyle. Next to that the author has written: "for my darling Joy, [signed] Marrie." Joy was B. J. (Beatrice Joy) Chute, the author's sister and fellow-author. Among B. J. Chute's books are: GREENWILLOW; THE FIELDS ARE WHITE; THE BLUE CUP; SHATTUCK CADET; THE END OF LOVING; KATIE, AN IMPERTINENT FAIRY TALE; and THE GOOD WOMAN. Born in Wayzata, Minnesota in 1909, Marchette "Marrie" Chute moved to New York City with her mother and two sisters in the early 1940s. Both sisters, Beatrice Joy Chute and Mary Grace Chute (later Mary Chute Smith, of Morristown, N.J.) were also gifted writers. Marchette Chute wrote some 13 books and served as president of the American Center of P.E.N. from 1955-57. She was elected to the American Academy of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1975. Among her other books are: SHAKESPEARE OF LONDON; BEN JONSON OF WESTMINSTER; JESUS OF ISRAEL; THE TWO GENTLE MEN, THE LIVES OF GEORGE HERBERT AND ROBERT HERRICK. This is the first UK edition with "First published 1956" so stated on the copyright page. . INSCRIBED / SIGNED to the AUTHOR'S SISTER. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine condition/No dust jacket. 191pp. …