The Bab Ballads
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1932. Item #06544
The Definitive “Bab” Ballads
With Songs of a Savoyard and 350 Illustrations by the Author
GILBERT, W.S. The Bab Ballads. To Which Are Included Songs of a Savoyard. With 350 illustrations by the author. London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1932.
Octavo (7 5/16 x 4 7/8 inches; 186 x 124 mm.). xii, 563, [1] pp.
Bound in three-quarter red morocco over red cloth boards. Spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Spine faded, neat ink signature on front blank, otherwise near fine.
A substantial collected edition of W. S. Gilbert’s celebrated Bab Ballads, here expanded to include the Songs of a Savoyard and illustrated throughout with no fewer than 350 drawings by Gilbert himself.
First issued in periodical form in the 1860s, The Bab Ballads represent the purest expression of Gilbert’s comic imagination - absurd, precise, and subversively satirical. Their enduring appeal lies in the seamless fusion of text and image: Gilbert’s own illustrations are not mere accompaniments, but integral extensions of the humor, reinforcing tone, character, and timing with remarkable economy and wit.
The inclusion of Songs of a Savoyard firmly situates the volume within the broader context of Gilbert’s collaboration with Arthur Sullivan, drawing a direct line between these early comic verses and the celebrated Savoy operas. Indeed, many of the themes, characters, and narrative conceits first explored in the Bab Ballads find their fullest realization in works such as H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance.
This 1932 Macmillan edition, among the most complete single-volume presentations of Gilbert’s comic verse, offers both bibliographic convenience and visual richness, gathering the material into a format that remains highly readable while preserving the charm of the original illustrations.
A pleasing and well-preserved copy of a cornerstone work of Victorian humor, bridging the gap between ephemeral magazine publication and the enduring legacy of the Savoy stage.
Price: $225.00