Rare 1883 American News Co. How to Draw and Paint, with Wonderful Plates--and Interventions! retro with pretty minor scrapes and

with pretty minor scrapes and dings and paint loss

I'm terrible with wood identification but think perhaps mahogany

And so it feels more akin to me to a folk art stone carved book than it does to Italian Grand Tour souvenir--and indeed it does its job as a ruler

and quite a fun one to carry on an ongoing conversation with

and especially the crooked mouth filled with a mix of gold and black teeth

Rare 1883 American News Co. How to Draw and Paint, with Wonderful Plates--and Interventions! retro with pretty minor scrapes and"How to Draw and Paint," published in 1883 by the American News Company, NY, seems a rare one to find; I've found just one copy out there, listed at about $200. This copy though is its own thing, with a Helen Henkel having put her own stamp on it through watercoloring a dozen or so of its many plates. (I especially like her making the sheep solid black.) The first half of the book (65 pages) is text (with the occasional diagram) walking the reader