ABC

An Alphabet

Written and pictured by Mrs Arthur Gaskin

An Art / Books Children’s Classic

This classic Victorian children’s ABC primer was originally published in London and Chicago in 1895. It was the first book by the Arts and Crafts artist and designer Georgie Gaskin, celebrated for the jewellery she produced with her husband Arthur. Exquisite woodcut illustrations and rhymes by Gaskin accompany each letter of the alphabet and combine to create a volume that charms and delights both children and adults. It soon became a favourite and was published in several editions from the late 1890s, including a hand-painted deluxe version printed on vellum of only a handful of copies. This new facsimile is the first to reproduce the original clothbound trade edition of 1895. It is bound with a silkscreened cloth cover and printed on high-quality paper to create a collectible object that recipients will treasure long into adulthood. It is the first volume in a series of special facsimiles of historic illustrated children’s titles selected and produced by Art / Books.

Georgina Evelyn Cave Gaskin (1866–1934), known as Georgie Gaskin, was an English jewellery and metalwork designer. With her husband Arthur Gaskin, she was one of the original members of the Birmingham Group of Artist-Craftsmen, and a leading jeweller of the Arts and Crafts movement. They produced silver and enamel work, book illustrations and jewellery, both independently and in partnership. Georgie wrote and illustrated a number of books under her own name and as Mrs Arthur Gaskin, beginning with ABC: An Alphabet in 1895, a year after the couple married. She continued to design jewellery until shortly before her death.