Elizabeth Coatsworth Sun’s Diary 1929 1st Ed Frank McIntosh Art Deco DJ For Sale

Decorated by Frank McIntosh.

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1929.

First edition. Original pictorial boards with yellow cloth spine and original dust jacket.

A beautiful and unusually well-preserved first edition of Elizabeth Coatsworth’s The Sun’s Diary, an elegantly designed literary almanac decorated throughout by Frank McIntosh.

Published in 1929, the book offers a poetic and visual entry for each day of the year, with quotations, proverbs, verses, observations, and seasonal reflections arranged as a perpetual book of days.

This is a particularly attractive example, retaining its original dust jacket, which has protected the bright pictorial binding and clean interior exceptionally well.

The principal appeal of The Sun’s Diary is its distinctive visual design.

Frank McIntosh’s black-and-white decorations appear throughout the volume and include stylized figures, decorative borders, natural forms, and rhythmic page compositions. The simplified shapes, strong linear patterns, and balanced use of white space give the book a sophisticated late-1920s Art Deco character.

Rather than functioning as occasional illustrations, McIntosh’s decorations are integrated into the page design, making the volume an appealing example of American book production at the end of the 1920s.

The book will appeal not only to collectors of Elizabeth Coatsworth, but also to those interested in:

• Art Deco design
• illustrated almanacs and books of days
• American children’s literature
• modernist book illustration
• seasonal and nature books
• early twentieth-century publishing

Elizabeth Coatsworth was an American writer of poetry, fiction, and children’s books. The Sun’s Diary is an early title from her career, published shortly after her marriage to author and naturalist Henry Beston.

Coatsworth went on to win the 1931 Newbery Medal for The Cat Who Went to Heaven, published by Macmillan in 1930. This 1929 volume therefore represents an appealing early work by an author who would soon become one of the most respected figures in American children’s literature.

Author: Elizabeth Coatsworth
Title: The Sun’s Diary: A Book of Days for Any Year
Decorator: Frank McIntosh
Publisher: The Macmillan Company
Place and date: New York, 1929
Edition: First edition
Format: Large octavo
Binding: Original pictorial paper-covered boards with yellow cloth spine
Illustrations: Black-and-white decorations throughout
Dust jacket: Original illustrated dust jacket

The book is in near-fine condition.

The pictorial paper-covered boards remain bright and attractive, with only light handling wear. The yellow cloth spine is clean and well preserved. The binding is firm and square, with only minor wear at the corners and edges.

The interior is clean, bright, and unmarked, with no significant foxing noted. The decorations remain crisp and attractive.

The original dust jacket is very good plus and unusually presentable. It remains bright, with strong color and good overall visual appeal. There is a small tear at the front hinge, neatly repaired with archival tape, and a small loss or divot to the rear panel. Additional minor edge wear may be present.

The jacket has clearly protected the book exceptionally well and is now an important part of the copy’s desirability.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an integral part of the condition description.

A striking first edition of an early Elizabeth Coatsworth title, notable for:

• Coatsworth’s later Newbery Medal
• Frank McIntosh’s distinctive Art Deco decorations
• literary and seasonal entries for every day of the year
• original pictorial binding
• original dust jacket
• unusually bright and clean preservation

A beautiful 1929 book combining American children’s literature, poetry, nature writing, Art Deco illustration, and the increasingly collectible tradition of the literary book-of-days.