Books

First Rackham edition, in a handsome binding by Bayntun. In his memorable illustrations, Rackham "developed his gift for drawing witches, gnomes, fairies, and anthropomorphized trees and brought them to a pitch of vivid characterization, sometimes with an unsettling frisson of horror" (ODNB). Quarto (240 x 170 mm). Mid-20th-century blue morocco by Bayntun, spine lettered and decorated in gilt with floral motifs, covers with gilt floral cornerpieces connected via beaded rolls, single gilt fillet ruling edges of covers and boards, gilt rules and floral rolls on turn-ins, marbled endpapers, edges gilt, original cloth front cover bound in at rear. Colour frontispiece and 39 colour plates tipped to heavy off-white paper with grey background and frame and with captioned tissue guards; further line drawings in the text, all by Rackham. Vignette title page printed in black and brown. Spine and head of front cover sunned to green, gilt bright, sporadic foxing not affecting plates. A very attractive copy. Latimore & Haskell, p. 32; Riall, p.87.

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (Russian: Сон смешного человека) is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky written in 1877. It chronicles the experiences of a man who believes nothing has any value and is ripe with existential insights into human life and a reformation of spirit.