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Reviewer: Sardonique Schadenfreude Rictus - - June 16, 2008
Subject: A great and young talent:V.F.Sterrett !

The tales by Madame la Comtesse de Ségur in this book are as lovely as they are uncommon in English. The illustrations, however, are absolutely breathtaking! Mix Kay Nielsen with Arthur Rackham and a dash of Harry Clarke, add the Fashion-Design and dramatic aesthetic sense of Léon Bakst of the Ballet Russes, and you have a rough idea of just exactly how sublime these illustrations are! The faces and physiognomy of the women subjects in the illustrations seem to have had some influence on the fantasy illustrator Mahlon Blaine (specifically his 'Venus Sardonica' and 'Nova Venus', as well as other of his erotic works, though the Sterrett illustrations are not overtly erotic in the least, just wonderfully pleasing to the eye).

I once saw this book in person at a bookshop in Palo Alto, but couldn't afford it at the time. It is absolutely miraculous that I can now possess it in PDF form forever (though I will still buy the original, should I encounter it again)! This is book design as high art. Very Highly Recommended !!!! Sublime !!!!

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