Books

Paris: Hachette et Cie., 1906. De Luxe Edition in French This Copy Specially Signed By Rackham [RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator]. IRVING, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. Illustré par Arthur Rackham. Paris: Hachette et Cie.,1906. French Edition De Luxe, limited to 200 unsigned letterpress-numbered copies on 'Papier Whatman', this being copy no. 199, specially signed by Rackham. Quarto (11 x 8 5/8 in; 280 x 216 mm). x, 69, [3] pp. Frontispiece and fifty color plates with captioned tissue guards mounted on heavy brown stock. Publisher's full gilt-stamped vellum with original yellow ribbon ties. Small marginal wormhole affecting just the front free endpaper and the limitation leaf. An excellent copy, the binding fresh and clean. Housed in a plain chemise-style case. In 1906 Hachette et Cie, Paris, published two Edition DeLuxe versions of this title. There were 200 unsigned copies on 'Papier Whatman' and in addition another 20 copies that were signed by Rackham and printed on 'Papier du…

Rip Van Winkle is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, published in 1819 as part of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The story is set in New York's Catskill Mountains and follows Rip Van Winkle, a Dutch American villager who falls asleep before the American Revolution and wakes up twenty years later to a very different world. His disappearance and return are met with incredulity by those around him. This tale is known for its themes of change and continuity, the American past, and individualism.