"PEOPLING THE UNIVERSE WITH ELVES AND LEPRECHAUNS": LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF ARTHUR RACKHAM'S FAIRY BOOK, WITH EIGHT COLOR PLATES AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, ONE OF ONLY 460 COPIES SIGNED BY HIM

RACKHAM, Arthur. The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book. London: George G. Harrap, (1933). Octavo, original full vellum gilt, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt, uncut, original slipcase. $4000.

Signed limited first edition, number 273 of only 460 copies signed by Rackham, with eight full-page color illustration and 60 in-text line cuts and silhouettes, a handsome uncut copy.

One of the last books Rackham illustrated before his death, this lovely volume includes 23 favorite tales such as "Jack and the Beanstalk," "The Ugly Duckling," "Cinderella" and "Ali Baba." Walter Starkie, Rackham's nephew, recalled his first impression of the great illustrator: "When armed with palette and paint brushes, he became for me a wizard, who with one brush of his magic wand could people my universe with elves and leprechauns" (Carpenter, 440). Latimore & Haskell, 69. Riall, 182. Hamilton, 189.

Slipcase with expert repairs. Book near-fine, with only a few spots of soiling to interior and usual mild toning to spine.