Violet Books
Fairy Illustrations by Edna Cooke
for G. W. Dasent's
East o' the Sun & West o' the Moon
"So off they went, high up through the air,
as if they would never stop till they got to the world's end."
An illustration for the title story in the Norse fairy tale collection East o' the Sun & West o' the Moon by Sir George Webbe Dasent (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1921).
Away went the ship as swift as a bird through the air.
The rare night-illustration for the tale "Shortshanks" when contrasted to the illustration immediately above reveals Edna Cooke's clear eye for the use of sweeping lines & blank space such as became the hallmark of Art Deco, though she was working predominantly in the older Art Nouveau vein, & was equally expert at "busier" compositions as seen in the two examples below.
"In a little while back came the man with
an ox so fat & big the lad had never seen its like."
A charming illustration for "The Blue Belt"
in which a giant troll dandles an ox like a small dog.
She whisked off the wig, & there lay the lad so lovely,
& white & red, just as the Princess had seen him in the morning sun."
An illustration for "The Widow's Son,"
the tale of a lad's knight errantly.
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