Rip Van Winkle (Signed limited edition)
- SIGNED
- London: William Heinemann, 1905
London: William Heinemann, 1905. Deluxe edition. Near Fine. Number 163 of 250 copies signed by the artist on the limitation page. 50 color plates on heavy brown paper with lettered tissue-guards at end, with one facing title page. Bound in vellum with gilt title on spine and title and image of the title character on front cover, replaced silk ties. Front inner hinge just starting. Interior text pages clean with minor foxing on fly leaves and interior paste-downs. Top of text block gilt with rest of edges uncut.
"The first book illustrated wholly by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition" (Riall). "Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Rip Van Winkle were the first major works of his career as a book illustrator, and they established Rackham as the leading decorative illustrator of the Edwardian period. These were also the first of many of his works to be displayed at the Leicester Galleries in London, an opportunity which both allowed Rackham to make extra money from the sale of his prints, and also establish illustration as a notable work of art in its own right rather than a mere adornment of a literary masterpiece" (Hudson).
Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) is perhaps the most acclaimed and influential illustrator of the Golden Age of Illustration. A prolific artist even from his youth, Rackham got his start as an illustrator working for the Westminster Budget Newspaper (1892). Over the next few years, he took on more and more commissions for children’s books, hitting his career high in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rackham turned his imaginative pen to every classic—from Shakespeare to Dickens to Poe.
Riall 69. Near Fine.
"The first book illustrated wholly by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition" (Riall). "Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Rip Van Winkle were the first major works of his career as a book illustrator, and they established Rackham as the leading decorative illustrator of the Edwardian period. These were also the first of many of his works to be displayed at the Leicester Galleries in London, an opportunity which both allowed Rackham to make extra money from the sale of his prints, and also establish illustration as a notable work of art in its own right rather than a mere adornment of a literary masterpiece" (Hudson).
Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) is perhaps the most acclaimed and influential illustrator of the Golden Age of Illustration. A prolific artist even from his youth, Rackham got his start as an illustrator working for the Westminster Budget Newspaper (1892). Over the next few years, he took on more and more commissions for children’s books, hitting his career high in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rackham turned his imaginative pen to every classic—from Shakespeare to Dickens to Poe.
Riall 69. Near Fine.