SIGNED LIMITED EDITION OF RACKHAM'S THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
(RACKHAM, Arthur) MOORE, Clement C. The Night Before Christmas. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. London: George C. Harrap, (1931). Octavo, original gilt-stamped limp vellum, red and white pictorial endpapers, uncut, top edge gilt;original plain wrapper, original cardboard slipcase with printed paper spine label.
Signed limited first edition, number 264 of only 275 copies printed for England (out of a total edition of 550 copies), with four color plates and 17 in-text line cuts, signed by Arthur Rackham, a lovely copy in handsome publisher's vellum.
"One of the world's most widely read poems… 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' recast St. Nicholas as a cheerful, rosy-cheeked elf and established Christmas as a time for giving gifts to children" (Carnegie Mellon University). For this edition of the Yuletide classic, Rackham created four full-color illustrations, 17 drawings in black and white, and red and white pictorial endpapers. Title page printed in red and black. The slipcase is numbered "264." Riall, 174. Latimore & Haskell, 66.
Book fine; mild wear to wrapper; light toning, edge-wear to slipcase. A desirable about-fine copy.