The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book. A Book of Old Favourites with New Illustrations.
London: George G Harrop and Co. Ltd., 1933.
Signed Limited Edition.
A limited edition of 460 signed by Rackham.
An inspired anthology drawn from “old favourites of the nursery...Most of them had a long and eventful life of oral tradition before somebody who could write caught them as they flew and consigned them to cold print” [Illustrator’s Preface]. Classics by Hans Anderson such as “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella” and “Puss in Boots” appear with tales from 'The Arabian Nights' and the traditional English folk tale “Jack and the Beanstalk” and Washington Irving’s American classic “Rip van Winkle”.
Published near the end of his remarkable career, Rackham with characteristic rich earth-tones illustrates a mythical fairy world in this beautifully published edition. He is mindful of belonging to an ancient tradition of story-telling and notes “in our own day, inspired story-tellers go on adding original characters to the stock-an Alice, a Peter Pan, and a Mr. Toad”, forecasting a Golden Age of British book illustration. Scarce in this original limited edition.
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Provenance: James Fairfax (from his library at Retford Park, Bowral NSW, with bookplate).
Octavo, 8 full-colour plates and 60 line-drawings in the text, spine and cover with original gilt-work, top edge gilt, others uncut; original publisher’s vellum over boards. Limited edition of 460 signed by the artist.
Price (AUD): $3,450.00 other currencies