Born in 1845, Walter Crane was the first professional illustrator to proudly apply himself to commercial arts in the rising age of mechanical reproduction, he reformed the way his contemporaries perceived books, transforming them into influential, political, powerful objects to be pondered with intent and produced with art. Cheap as they were, they could still shape society, instil ideas and conjure worlds of possibility. His picture books served as a tool of popular education, helping to emancipate less well-to-do children and form their taste and personalities. They were of such artistic quality that they entered the homes of intellectuals such as Oscar Wilde and Dame Ellen Terry.

This publication catalogues almost 450 titles illustrated by the artist, 274 of which have been newly discovered by Francesca Tancini, including unpublished illustrator's diaries and account books and printer's and publisher's ledgers and archives. This catalogue offers a completely new picture of Crane and the publishing and artistic world in which he operated and excelled.