FOREWORD
published twenty-one years after Rackham’s death, is an attempt to fill the gap.
Any merit it may possess is due largely to the encouragement of Arthur Rackham’s daughter, Mrs Barbara Edwards, who has not only lent me her father’s personal records, letters, photographs, press cuttings, etc., and made available his work for illustration, but has also generously set down her own recollections of her parents, which have guided me throughout, and taken endless pains to assist me in every possible way. I am also most grateful to Mr Bernard Rackham, C.B., the artist’s brother, for his kind hospitality and advice, and for permission to reproduce drawings; and to his sister-in-law Mrs Harris Rackham for similar courtesies. Rackham’s nephew and niece by marriage, Professor Walter Starkie and Dr Enid Starkie, have also placed me deeply in their debt, and I remember with gratitude the help of several other members of his family. Nor should I omit to mention the enthusiasm with which Mr Dwye Evans and Mr Hugh Williamson of Heinemann’s approached the project and set about the making of this handsome book.
The overwhelming response that I received to an inquiry in the Press showed conclusively that, despite changes of artistic taste and fashion, Arthur Rackham still enjoys a special place in the affections of two or even three generations, both in his own country and in America, and that his work is far from being forgotten. Those who have helped me by contributing recollections, allowing letters to be published, or in other ways, include Dr Arthur C. Hill, Mr W. E. Dawe, Mrs W. E. Wheeler, Miss Janet Seligman, Mr Humphrey Brooke (Secretary, Royal Academy of Arts), Mr James Laver, Dr Percy E. Spielmann, Miss Dorothea Braby, Mr George E. Heath, Mrs R. L. Crosley, Mr Harold Bourne, the Hon. Mrs Geoffrey Edwards, Mr F. C. Winby, Miss Margaret Andrewes, Mr Karl Kup, Miss Carolyn E. Jakeman, Mr Roland Baughman, Mr Kerrison Preston, Mr A. R. Redway, the Assistant Keeper of the Tate Gallery,14
