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Arthur Rackham's Book of pictures
This wonderful survey of the famed artist's early work features 44 color plates in addition to several black-and-white vignettes and spot illustrations. Most of the images depict fantastic dwarfs, giants, elves, and fairies as well as naturalistic illustrations far removed from the fairy world. An elegant offering for all Rackham fans, this volume includes many long-unavailable pieces.
- GenresArtFairy TalesFantasy
36 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Arthur Rackham
675 books144 followersArthur Rackham (1867-1939) was a British illustrator and translator of books in the English and Spanish languages.
He was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.
In 1892, he quit his job and started working for The Westminster Budget as a reporter and illustrator. His first book illustrations were published in 1893 in To the Other Side by Thomas Rhodes, but his first serious commission was in 1894 for The Dolly Dialogues, the collected sketches of Anthony Hope, who later went on to write The Prisoner of Zenda. Book illustrating then became Rackham's career for the rest of his life.
In 1903, he married Edyth Starkie, with whom he had one daughter, Barbara, in 1908. Rackham won a gold medal at the Milan International Exhibition in 1906 and another one at the Barcelona International Exposition in 1912. His works were included in numerous exhibitions, including one at the Louvre in Paris in 1914. Arthur Rackham died 1939 of cancer in his home in Limpsfield, Surrey.
-from Wikipedia
He was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.
In 1892, he quit his job and started working for The Westminster Budget as a reporter and illustrator. His first book illustrations were published in 1893 in To the Other Side by Thomas Rhodes, but his first serious commission was in 1894 for The Dolly Dialogues, the collected sketches of Anthony Hope, who later went on to write The Prisoner of Zenda. Book illustrating then became Rackham's career for the rest of his life.
In 1903, he married Edyth Starkie, with whom he had one daughter, Barbara, in 1908. Rackham won a gold medal at the Milan International Exhibition in 1906 and another one at the Barcelona International Exposition in 1912. His works were included in numerous exhibitions, including one at the Louvre in Paris in 1914. Arthur Rackham died 1939 of cancer in his home in Limpsfield, Surrey.
-from Wikipedia
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February 15, 2023How? Browsed off my library's "new" shelf.
What? This is a Dover publication of a 1913(?) book of some Rackham pictures and a long and pleasant intro by literary critic and writer Arthur Quiller-Couch, which really feels pre-war.
So, yeah? The intro is so of-its-time that it was a weird break from current times. The plates are fine, and I've been thinking about ransacking public domain art rather than using AI to illustrate my dumb RPG stuff.
What? This is a Dover publication of a 1913(?) book of some Rackham pictures and a long and pleasant intro by literary critic and writer Arthur Quiller-Couch, which really feels pre-war.
So, yeah? The intro is so of-its-time that it was a weird break from current times. The plates are fine, and I've been thinking about ransacking public domain art rather than using AI to illustrate my dumb RPG stuff.
August 4, 2022
A slim book featuring 36 plates of Arthur Rackham’s art, most of them, according to a note from Rackham at the start, appeared in this book (when it was first published in 1913) for the first time. Rackham’s art is 5 stars, of course, but this book, or at least the 1979 Avenal edition I read, is just okay.
About half of it is text broken into three sections. The new Foreword for this edition by Elizabeth Congdon Kovanen gives a very quick overview, with maybe a sentence each on a few of the illustrations. There’s then an inconsistent text list of the included art divided into sections, often just the title, but some have an excerpt of text that inspired the work. There are no dates for any of the work (with the exception of in some of the art itself, which I needed a magnifying glass to read.) Finally, there’s a rambliing and often hard to follow introduction by Sir Arthur QuillerCouch, who seems to delight in name dropping references to classic literature and poetry. So if you want to learn about the art in the book from the text in the book, you have to work hard at it to get a little information.
I imagine the quality of the plates in the original 1913 edition is stunning, but that edition currently sells for $1,000 - $3,000. I bought this commercial edition for $15 used but in very good condition at an antiquarian book fair. The art is ok. Not bad in terms of print quality, but not great either. Rackham generally uses a muted palette, but the colors seem rather dull in this edition, and it’s hard to see the detail, which is one of the glories of Rackham’s work.
The most arresting illustration in this collection for me was “Mother Goose,” which depicts an old woman sitting up in the clouds, ripping feathers off a goose to create snow over the oblivious villagers below, while her goblins chase and round up more geese on the cloud planes. It made me wonder about the origins of “Mother Goose.” Rackham’s take is far from benign, but also more creative and interesting.
If you just want to get an idea of some of Rackham’s art, this is a solid enough book. But if you want to ooh and ahh over it, learn about it, or get a comprehensive overview, there are better books out there.
About half of it is text broken into three sections. The new Foreword for this edition by Elizabeth Congdon Kovanen gives a very quick overview, with maybe a sentence each on a few of the illustrations. There’s then an inconsistent text list of the included art divided into sections, often just the title, but some have an excerpt of text that inspired the work. There are no dates for any of the work (with the exception of in some of the art itself, which I needed a magnifying glass to read.) Finally, there’s a rambliing and often hard to follow introduction by Sir Arthur QuillerCouch, who seems to delight in name dropping references to classic literature and poetry. So if you want to learn about the art in the book from the text in the book, you have to work hard at it to get a little information.
I imagine the quality of the plates in the original 1913 edition is stunning, but that edition currently sells for $1,000 - $3,000. I bought this commercial edition for $15 used but in very good condition at an antiquarian book fair. The art is ok. Not bad in terms of print quality, but not great either. Rackham generally uses a muted palette, but the colors seem rather dull in this edition, and it’s hard to see the detail, which is one of the glories of Rackham’s work.
The most arresting illustration in this collection for me was “Mother Goose,” which depicts an old woman sitting up in the clouds, ripping feathers off a goose to create snow over the oblivious villagers below, while her goblins chase and round up more geese on the cloud planes. It made me wonder about the origins of “Mother Goose.” Rackham’s take is far from benign, but also more creative and interesting.
If you just want to get an idea of some of Rackham’s art, this is a solid enough book. But if you want to ooh and ahh over it, learn about it, or get a comprehensive overview, there are better books out there.
February 21, 2018
Some very posh language by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.It was a good mental exercise.The drawings by Rackham were wonderful.Check it out.
August 6, 2016
A good collection of Rackham's works. From naturalistic children in natural scenes, through a seven-headed dragon of the Hesperides from Greek myth, to his classic good folk. Rather more of the last than the former: little folk having a market under tree roots, goblins trying to steal garments, and a walker finding them hiding in the road-side ditch.
Intro isn't much good
Intro isn't much good
June 22, 2015
This, for all that the context was occasionally weird, was lovely indeed.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews