Description
Signed limited edition of Armazindy by James Whitcomb Riley, presented to fellow children’s poet Eugene Field.
Small octavo, xiii, [1], 169pp. Red silk, decoratively illustrated in gilt on front cover, title in gilt on spine. Top edge gilt. Frontispiece portrait with tissue guard. Solid text block, light wear to spine ends, joints and corners, some leaves unopened. Bookplate of Eugene Field affixed to front pastedown. Number 87 of 100 limited edition copies signed by Riley. Housed in a custom red cloth jacket within a matching quarter red morocco slipcase, title in gilt on spine with embellishments. (BAL 16602) (Russo 51)
Inscription on rear flyleaf reads: “This copy was presented to my father, Eugene Field, by James Whitcomb Riley. Eugene Field II. Sept 12 – 1925.”
Although commonly remembered for their published works, James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) and Eugene Field (1850-1895) performed across the United States in a joint act during the late 1880s. Bill Nye (Edgar Wilson Nye), a beloved humorist, rounded out the trio of entertainers. The three men were called “the greatest humorous trio in America” and were photographed together at the time of their first appearance in Indianapolis in 1886. (Indianapolis Journal, January 17, 1886, p. 5)
