(Wild Animals) The Jungle (code no. 69); illustrated by Charles Kingsley Cook. London: Dean's Rag Book Co., Ltd., between 1907-1919. FIRST EDITION. Oblong 8vo - 7-1/4" x 8-3/4". [16] butterfly-folded double cloth pages including wrappers. Original publisher's [2] pp. advertising slip laid in.
Bound in red cloth-backed color pictorial limp cloth wrappers, sewn as issued. The textile edges feature the publisher's standard serrated pinking to the head and foot of the book to prevent fraying. Internally and externally without flaw. The condition of the rag book is FINE.
Technical Construction of Dean’s Rag Books
Patented in 1902 by Henry Samuel Dean, the Dean’s Rag Book Company produced juvenile books designed for durability, replacing traditional paper with washable cotton cloth sheets printed with colorfast inks. This copy of The Jungle (Code No. 69) utilizes a "butterfly fold" construction. In this format, the textile sheets are printed on one side only and folded back-to-back, creating double-thickness pages that provide structural rigidity while remaining flexible.
Illustrations by Charles Kingsley Cook
The color illustrations throughout the volume are the work of Charles Kingsley Cook, an Edwardian painter and illustrator who provided designs for several of Dean's early textile books. Cook’s compositions cover the full surface of the cloth pages, depicting a variety of exotic fauna including a camel, ostriches, a monkey, pelicans, and a giraffe. His style relies on bold outlines and saturated color blocks well-suited to the company's colorfast printing process, balancing realistic animal anatomy with simplified backgrounds designed for young children.
Ephemeral Publisher's Advertising Slip
This copy retains the original two-page publisher's advertising slip loosely laid into the pages. Because these thin, paper-printed inserts were intended to be discarded at the point of sale, their survival rate is low. The ephemera provides contemporary bibliographic context, documenting regional pricing, distribution details, and the active checklist of Dean’s toy book titles available during the pre-World War I period.
Bibliography and Institutional Census
Owing to the intended use and textile nature of these publications, surviving examples frequently display heavy laundering, fading, and fraying. This copy remains unwashed with the original ink saturation preserved. A current global institutional census via WorldCat locates only two copies in institutional holdings worldwide: one in the Princeton University Library and one in the Auckland Libraries network.
A RARE AND COMPLETELY UNWASHED SURVIVAL, ESPECIALLY SCARCE IN THIS FINE, UNCOMMONLY PRESERVED CONDITION.
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