‎HAMER, Heather‎
‎Old Sinhalese nursery rhymes and folk songs. Collated and illustrated by Heather Hamer.‎

‎Ceylon: Colombo Apothecaries Co. Ltd 1935 ‎

Reference : 3956

‎Scarce. First edition. Large softback. 33 rhymes, beautifully illustrated in black and white by Heather Hamer. Frontispiece, and all illustrations have original tissue guards. Soft covers show signs of age toning and handling. There is some wear to the spine with a small area of loss. Plain unprinted paper covers with no title or identification. Inside is in good condition, with some foxing; not affecting illustrations. 36 unnumbered pages. 285 x 225 mm (11Œ x 8Ÿ inches). A collection of nursery rhymes and folk songs of the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka - known at the time as Ceylon. In the foreword, by Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, he writes "In terms of pure decorative art Heather Hamer is spiritually in the direct line of descent from Aubrey Beardsley, and the application of her gift to Sinhalese subjects is a happy piece of good fortune for us." In her preface, Hamer states that most of the rhymes in the book were taken from an old volume of 'The Taprobanian' (1887), or gathered from local people, having been passed down over many generations.‎