93 “A Turning Point In His Career” 141(RACKHAM, Arthur) IRVING, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. London, 1905. Quarto, original full pictorial vellum gilt, custom slipcase. $12,000 Deluxe signed limited first edition, with 51 fullcolor mounted plates by Rackham, one of only 250 copies signed by Rackham, one of the smallest limitations for a Rackham title and “the first book illustrated wholly by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition” (Riall). One of the most scarce and desirable Rackham titles. “Rip Van Winkle of 1905 was a turning point in Rackham’s career because of its 51 color plates. Known previously as a black-and-white artist, Rackham with this book achieved preeminence as an illustrator working in the three-color process… Rackham’s Rip Van Winkle is among the most thoroughly illustrated of English books… His 50 illustrations, which are grouped at the end, come at a rate of one to every two or three sentences… presenting Rip’s story in the most ingenious and engaging detail” (Ray, 203-04). Near-fine. “The Very Music Made Visible” (C.S. Lewis) 142(RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator) WAGNER, Richard. The Ring of the Niblung: The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie. WITH: Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods. London, 1910. Together, two volumes. Quarto, original full vellum gilt. $5600 First deluxe limited edition, each volume one of only 1150 copies and each signed by Rackham, boasting in all 64 mounted color plates and 23 black-and-white drawings. “Germany was Rackham’s favorite holiday destination, and the country which, apart from England, had the single most important influence on his art” (Hamilton, 42). Appropriately, then, Rackham provided the libretti of Wagner’s epic “Ring cycle”—arguably German opera’s greatest achievement—with a dramatic series of illustrations, his only work aimed exclusively at adults. At least one child, however, saw and responded to Rackham’s art: the young C.S. Lewis, who would later recall, “His pictures, which seemed to me then to be the very music made visible, plunged me a few fathoms deeper into my delight. I have seldom coveted anything as I coveted that book” (Hamilton, 101). Without yellow silk ties in one volume, with ties laid into the second volume. Plates fine, vellum unusually fresh and clean, gilt bright. A beautiful set.
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