Arthur Rackham: A Bibliography
BURT FRANKLIN: BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCE SERIES 348
Art History & Art Reference 31
ARTHUR RACKHAM: A BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTHUR RACKHAM
A BIBLIOGRAPHY
By Sarah Briggs Latimore and Grace Clark Haskell
BURT FRANKLIN
NEW YORK
- Published by BURT FRANKLIN
- 235 East 44th St., New York, N.Y. 10017
- Originally Published: 1936
- Reprinted: 1970
- Printed in the U.S.A.
- S.B.N. 20171
- Library of Congress Card Catalog No.: 73-125633
- Burt Franklin: Bibliography and Reference Series 348
- Art History and Art Reference 31
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
Few artists, whose work has appeared in book form, have received more attention from collectors and less from bibliographers than has Arthur Rackham. One can scarcely pick up a general catalogue of a rare-book dealer without finding at least one of Rackham’s books, yet there is no comprehensive list of his published work, and it is safe to say that many ardent collectors are unaware of many of his early books and magazine illustrations.
As is often the case in book-collecting, the most elusive and perplexing items are not those of greatest importance in the artist’s production, but rather the early pieces lightly considered by author and public when they appeared and soon forgotten as more significant work was published. However the critic may regard these first efforts, they are dear to the heart of the collector, and perhaps not unimportant to the student of the more mature productions.
This attempt to record all of Rackham’s published work has been complicated because of the fact that his earliest drawings appeared in several magazines, some of which are not easily found. Mr. Rackham has informed the authors that his first appearance in print was in the Magazine Scraps in 1884. Thereafter he contributed to Pall Mall and Westminster Budgets, The Daily Graphic, Illustrated Bits, Cassell’s, and other periodicals. Some of these have not been accessible to the authors, but it is hoped that the appearance of this list will bring forth this and other data necessary to complete the record of Rackham’s published work.
Many of the magazine illustrations that appeared from 1896 to 1907 were subsequently published in book form, often in editions which contained the work of other illustrators as well. Others, however, have never been reprinted, and these have special interest to the collector. Rackham’s first work achieved the dignity of publication in book form in 1893 in a modest little volume, now probably the rarest of all his books, To The Other Side. This was nothing more than a guide book designed to encourage travel to Canada and the United States. It was sold in paper wrappers at one shilling and in cloth binding at two shillings, and was distributed by railway and steamship companies. The illustrations were mostly drawings from photographs. It is a far cry from this work to the fine illustrations in Grimm’s Fairy Tales that appeared seven years later and marked the advent of a new master among book illustrators.
Until that time his work had been considered incidental to the text; since then it has been sought after because of its own merit by an ever-widening circle of collectors. Rip Van Winkle, published in 1905, was his first book in a limited signed edition; from then on to the present date most of his books have been published in both limited and trade editions. The list of Rackham’s books is an imposing array of classic tales and contemporary writings to each of which he has imparted fresh or added interest through his imaginative interpretation of the text.
The authors of this bibliography have encountered numerous difficulties in collecting data on some of the volumes, particularly the earlier ones. In many instances there were two and sometimes even three or four different bindings on books apparently of the same edition. The first issues were usually in more elaborate bindings, having gold stamping and lettering and with gilt edges, while later issues often had blind stamping and the lettering in black or color. In the earlier books it is often necessary to distinguish first issues by the clearness of the illustrations, which often show signs of wear in later editions.
Information has been obtained mostly from the authors’ own collections, with the help of Mr. Rackham and his publishers; often the opinions cited have been deduced from a comparison of copies, as for example, when dated advertisements occur in the books. In cases of simultaneous publication in England, America, and on the continent, the English edition has been considered the true first.
Bibliographical details have been minimized in this list. Since the point of interest is in the illustrations rather than in the text; and since these seldom undergo change after production has started, it has not seemed necessary to go into as much detail as one would for literary first editions. In submitting this list to other Rackham enthusiasts, the authors are aware that they are amateur bibliographers but they believe they have incorporated the essentials. Their chief desire is to make possible for others the pleasure they have had in rounding out their collections and in finding delightful and unsuspected work by Arthur Rackham hidden in magazine files and little known books.
The authors feel that special thanks for their assistance and encouragement are due the following: Arthur Rackham, R.W.S., of London; Frederick Coykendall, of New York; Robert O. Schad, of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California; Henry A. Colgate, of New York; Leigh M. Battson, of Los Angeles; William B. Button, of Rochester, N.Y.; Gelber, Lilienthal, Inc., of San Francisco; and Dawson’s Bookshop, of Los Angeles.
ARTHUR RACKHAM
BRIEF SKETCH OF ARTHUR RACKHAM
Arthur Rackham was born in London, September 19, 1867. His father, a British Admiralty Marshal, very early decided upon a business career for his son. However, Arthur Rackham could see nothing congruous between business and drawing, and the holidays found him walking the beautiful pathways of rural England with his paint box and brushes.
Business occupied his hours during the day, but he found time to attend the Lambeth School of Art in the evenings, and in due time reached a state of artistic excellence that permitted him to devote his entire time to illustrating.
Through the years, Arthur Rackham’s work has grown steadily in the world’s favor, and today there probably is no other illustrator whose work is collected with such appreciation and enthusiasm.
In imagination, draftsmanship and colour-blending, his work stands alone. His deep understanding of the spirit of myth, fable and folk-lore affords him a transcendent range of expression.
From Wagner’s The Ring to Mother Goose, Mr. Rackham’s skilled brush leaves an exquisite spectrum of the mystical, the rhymthic, the humorous, and the wholesomely-joyful. His animal studies and landscapes are genuinely pulsating with life, colour and joy.
Mr. Rackham is a member of The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, an associate member of The Societe Nationale de Beaux Arts, Paris, and a Master of the Art Worker’s Guild. He won gold medals at Milan, in 1906; Venice, in 1909; and in Barcelona, in 1910. There are permanent exhibits of his work in Vienna, Barcelona, Melbourne, Preston, Bradford, The Luxembourg in Paris, and the Tate Gallery in London. In 1933 he exhibited a portrait of his daughter at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and in 1935 did the designs for the Opera, Hansel and Gretel.
In a recent letter to the authors, Mr. Rackham said, “I am looking forward to the bibliography—and you must insert some blank leaves at the end, for I don’t mean to stop work yet awhile.”
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) between 1929 and 1977 (inclusive) without a copyright notice.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse