Arthur Rackham is widely regarded as one of the leading illustrators from the ‘Golden Age’ of British book illustration which roughly encompassed the years from 1890 until the end of the First World War. During that period, there was a strong market for high quality illustrated books which typically were given as Christmas gifts. Many of Rackham’s books were produced in a de luxe limited edition, often vellum bound and usually signed, as well as a smaller, less ornately bound quarto ‘trade’ edition. This was sometimes followed by a more modestly presented octavo edition in subsequent years for particularly popular books. The onset of the war in 1914 curtailed the market for such quality books, and the public’s taste for fantasy and fairies also declined in the 1920s.
Arthur Rackham’s works have become very popular since his death, both in North America and Britain. His images have been widely used by the greeting card industry and many of his books are still in print or have been recently available in both paperback and hardback editions. His original drawings and paintings are keenly sought at the major international art auction houses. Reference: Wikipedia
RACKHAM (ARTHUR) SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM) The Tempest, NUMBER 258 OF 520 COPIES, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST, 21 tipped-in colour plates by Rackham, [1926]–EVANS (C.S.) The Sleeping Beauty, NUMBER 612 OF 625 COPIES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST, tipped-in colour frontispiece, 4 double-page colour illustrations, others in silhouette, all by Rackham, some light offsetting, 1920, both in publisher’s parchment-backed pictorial boards gilt, t.e.g., others uncut, soiled, 4to, Heineman (2)
Sold for £ 600 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2018
Poppies and fairies, illustration to Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’, Act IV, p 88 in the 1908 Heinemann edition, design for the headpiece; two fairies sitting on poppy stalks. 1908 Pen and black ink, with watercolour
Reference: © The Trustees of the British Museum
RACKHAM, Arthur (1867-1939). “Peter Pan,” original watercolor and pen and ink drawing, signed (“ARackham 12”) lower left, 1912. A large portrait of the infant Peter Pan, stranded on a branch in Kensington Gardens. In this early Peter Pan story, Peter is just a baby, who “like all infants” used to be part bird. He escapes domesticity for the gardens but in this portrait he has not yet been taught to fly. This image was used as a headpiece for chapter 2 of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, entitled “Peter Pan.” It begins, “If you ask your mother whether she knew about Peter Pan when she was a little girl, she will say, ‘Why, of course I did, child.'” Published: BARRIE, J.M. (1860-1937). Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. From The Little White Bird. London: Hodder & Stoughton, [1912], black and white illustration on p. 19 (reduced). 265 x 370mm, watercolor and pen and ink on illustration board (some toning and spotting), pencil notes on verso. Matted, framed and glazed. Provenance: J S Maas & Son, London (gallery label to frame verso).
Sold for USD 11,875 at Christies in 2018
RACKHAM, ARTHUR The Rhinegold & the Valkyrie. London: 1910. One of 1,050 signed copies. Publishers vellum. Plates. Heavily worn wit… London: 1910. One of 1,050 signed copies. Publisher’s vellum. Plates. Heavily worn with losses; Together with Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods. London: 1911. One of 1,150 signed copies. Publisher’s vellum. Plates. Spotting to spine.; The Ingoldsby Legends. London: 1907. One of 560 signed copies. Publisher’s vellum. Plates. Vellum warped, large gift inscription to title page, other wear.; The Springtide of Life. London and Philadelphia: 1918. One of 765 signed copies. Publisher’s boards. Plates. Light wear.; And PHIILPOTTS, EDEN. A Dish of Apples. London and New York: n.d. Trade edition. Cloth slightly sunned.
Sold for $1,000 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle New York in 2017
ARTHUR RACKHAM – Cinderella, Retold By C.S. Evans
First edition. Contemporary half tissue illustrated binding with original dust wrapper and decorated endpapers. Many tears and lacks at dust wrapper, otherwise very good condition.
Sold for €175 at Little Nemo Auction House in 2018
Mother Goose. The Old Nursery Rhymes
First published in 1913 this is the American edition. A children’s book, 262 pp., 13 tipped-in colored illustrations (photomechanical color reproductions of Rackham’s watercolors) and 67 black and white lithographed illustrations throughout text. Black cloth binding with color illustration affixed to front and title stamped in gold on the spine. The American edition includes a title page of a sampler in color that is not in the English editions
Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
RACKHAM, ARTHUR Fairy in a Tree
183 by 133mm., ink drawing, signed lower right “Arthur Rackham”, mounted, framed and glazed, some browning Not apparently from one of Rackham’s published books, this drawing may be for one of the artist’s Christmas cards and probably dates from the 1920s or 30s.
Sold for 3,250 GBP at Sothebys in 2018
Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother, inscribed in pencil with various figures and Diana of the Crossways
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
