Books

Original pen, ink and watercolour on board. Signed and dated by Rackham in the bottom left corner. 26.5cm x 37cm. Mounted, framed and glazed. A fine, large illustration of the infant Peter Pan, swaddled and sat atop a branch in Kensington Gardens. Peter Pan was Rackham's second major commission and the work which established his reputation as a book illustrator. Issued with new illustrations in 1912 where this image is reproduced in black and white as the chapter heading for chapter 2. A review of this book published in "The World" reads "Mr Barrie has done what no one else has done since the inventor of "Alice", he has invented a new legend, a modern folk story which comprehends all the innermost secrets of the modern child, be he four or forty. Mr Rackham, for his part, has been bewitched in his cradle: he does not dream of fairies or hobgoblins, he knows them." LITERATURE: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M.Barrie (Hodder & Stoughton, 1912) p.19 (reproduced in black and white).

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is one of J.M. Barrie's works that features the character Peter Pan, offering a backstory to the beloved 'boy who wouldn't grow up.' Originally part of Barrie's book 'The Little White Bird' (1902), these chapters were later republished as a stand-alone story detailing Peter's adventures in London's famous Kensington Gardens. It's a tale of fantasy that explores themes of childhood innocence and escapism.