Books

London: William Heinemann, 1905. Deluxe edition. Near Fine. Number 163 of 250 copies signed by the artist on the limitation page. 50 color plates on heavy brown paper with lettered tissue-guards at end, with one facing title page. Bound in vellum with gilt title on spine and title and image of the title character on front cover, replaced silk ties. Front inner hinge just starting. Interior text pages clean with minor foxing on fly leaves and interior paste-downs. Top of text block gilt with rest of edges uncut. "The first book illustrated wholly by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition" (Riall). "Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Rip Van Winkle were the first major works of his career as a book illustrator, and they established Rackham as the leading decorative illustrator of the Edwardian period. These were also the first of many of his works to be displayed at the Leicester Galleries in London, an opportunity which both allowed Rackham to make extra money from the sale of…

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.