Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. William Heinemann and Doubleday. Page & Company, London, 1926.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: No markings. 'First published 1926,' on the copyright page with no additional printings listed.20 tipped-in color plates, numerous black-and-white illustrations.
Seller: Manchester By The Book, Manchester-By-the-Sea, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 185 pages, 4to. Missing DJ. First Trade Edition, published after the signed Limited Edition. No publishing date printed, c.1926. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 20 tippin-in mounted color plates (including frontispiece) and 25 drawings in black-and-white. Bound in original black cloth boards with gilt lettering along spine and front cover. Shelfwear: light scuffing along edges and cover boards, a couple small tears and light fraying at top and bottom spine edges, some scratches and white discoloration on cover boards, very light water stained along top page edge. Otherwise, volume is tightly bound, no marks. Illustrations are in excellent condition. Volume is in Very Good condition.
Seller: Russian Hill Bookstore, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$800.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: The Tempest by William Shakespeare (Limited Edition) One of 520 Arthur Rackham Ex-Library. The Signature Limitation page is NOT present, it has been cleanly excised. "Reference Collection Book, Kansas City Public Library" sheet mounted to front pastedown. "Gift" to the library sheet mounted to rear pastedown. No foxing. Bright pages and illustration plates. Original jacket present. Spine panel underside reinforced with stiff paper - large sections of are missing. There is a 2-inch open tear to the cover at fore-edge. Tape-reinforced corners. Brodart cover. Limited Edition. [1926]. Original quarter vellum and cream paper-covered boards. Pictorial gilt to spine and cover. Top edge gilt. Original paper dust jacket with the same design printed in red instead of gilt. Jacket cover states: "This Edition is limited to 520 copies, numbered and signed by Arthur Rackham. Of these, Nos.1 to 260 are for sale in Great Britain and Ireland, and Nos. 261 to 520 in the United States of America." This is the first Arthur Rackham illustrated edition of THE TEMPEST by William Shakespeare, featuring 21 color plates tipped-in, including the Extra Plate "The Nymph" (not in the Trade edition).
Seller: Heartwood Books and Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$1450.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First William Heinemann edition. Stated at copyright: "First published 1926." True first issue book and wrapper with list of other Rackham titles verso half-title page, and many more with ornately decorative border to back panel of wrapper. Large 7 3/4" x 10" design. Charcoal full-cloth boards, stylized gilt cover and spine titles, light shelf wear, rub, bow. Front features sharp gilt impression of Rackham mermaiden. Crisp spine titles, vignette of mermaid child bursting from waves; Heinemann in gilt at heel. Frontispiece mounted plated with ornately detailed border and title page: "Go bring the rabble O'er whom I give thee power, here to this place." Pages very good, clean; no writing. First issue also distinguished by the rare yellow top-stain to text block. Pages of text at 78 and 79 have interesting offset printing image or other possibly from bookmark set in at one time, which nearly appears as ghostly silhouette of feminine form near seam of bind. Includes twenty mounted color plates by Arthur Rackham. Each wonderfully subtle with captioned page adjacent and vignette verso this. Additionally, twenty-five black & white partial-page designs, headers, tailpieces and vignettes throughout. String-bind good, square; hinges intact. Original beige matte wrapper with deep maroon cover and spine titles, vignette of Rackham mermaid motif, moderate edge wear, rub, discoloration; 21s. Net at spine, protected in new clear sleeve. Sharp near fine first edition of quality book craftsmanship in rare near very good matching wrapper. When asked to name five plays by Shakespeare he would like to illustrate, Rackham placed The Tempest at the top, second only to A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is evident in the ethereal and subdued color plates. The Tempest is among Gettings' survey of Rackham's Best Book Illustrations. The Tempest is thought to have been written in 1610-1611, and said to be the last play that Shakespeare composed alone. Set on a remote island, where the sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skillful manipulation. Prospero conjures up a storm, the tempest, to cause his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to believe they are shipwrecked and marooned on the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio's lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso's son, Ferdinand. Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk. 185 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$1900.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Fine vellum bound edition, no names or marks. Limited edition of 520 copies signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page. Minor shelf wear to cream colored cover. Endpapers are foxed. ; 4to 11" - 13" tall; 185 pages; Signed by Illustrator
Seller: Elder's Bookstore, Nashville, TN, U.S.A.
Price: US$1950.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Signed and numbered at limitation page: "This Edition is limited to 520 copies, numbered and signed by the Artist. Of these, Nos. 1 to 260 are for sale in Great Britain and Ireland, and Nos. 261 to 520 in the United States of America. No. "485, Arthur Rackham". Large 7 3/4" x 10" design. Original quarter vellum over cream-colored boards, stylized gilt cover design and spine titles, some corner, edge wear, rub, discoloration. Front also features gilt impression of Rackham mermaid. Rough-cut deckled pages generally fine, clean; one page w/corner clipped. Small printed bookplate inside cover: "The Tower Room, Dartmouth College Library"; and, small stamp at copyright: "229454". Bind fine; hinges intact. Frontispiece mounted plated: "Go bring the rabble O'er whom I give thee power, here to this place." Adjacent is the ornately detailed title page. An additional color plate is featured in this edition preceding frontispiece page: "Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell : 'Burthen: Ding-dong. Ariel: Hark! now I hear them, - Ding-dong, bell.'" Includes, in all, twenty-one mounted color plates by Arthur Rackham. Each wonderfully subtle and richly colored with captioned page adjacent and vignette verso this. Also, twenty-five black & white headers, tailpieces and vignettes throughout. String-bind good; hinges intact. Intact original cover with very good interior of this rare signed and limited Rackham illustrated edition of fine book craftsmanship. When asked to name five plays by Shakespeare he would like to illustrate, Rackham placed The Tempest at the top, second only to A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is evident in the ethereal and subdued color plates. The Tempest is among Gettings' survey of Rackham's Best Book Illustrations. The Tempest is thought to have been written in 1610-1611, and said to be the last play that Shakespeare composed alone. Set on a remote island, where the sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skillful manipulation. Prospero conjures up a storm, the tempest, to cause his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to believe they are shipwrecked and marooned on the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio's lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso's son, Ferdinand. Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk. 185 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$2187.50 + shipping
Description: Quarto (9-1/4" x 12-3/4") bound in the original vellum-backed gilt-decorated white boards. Illustrated with 21 color plates, including 1 not in the trade edition, and several black and white devices, printed on hand-made paper. Copy #227 of 260 (of a total of 520) of the English issue SIGNED by the illustrator on the limitation page. Contents are bright and fresh. The vellum spine is slightly darkened with a small stain at the top; the boards are soiled with a few small stains on the rear. Overall Very Good
Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2250.00 + shipping
Description: Large 4to, original quarter japon with white paper over boards, gilt title, etc. at spine and front cover. With 21 mounted color plates. Uncut pages. In later red cloth clamshell box. First edition. One of 520 copies signed by Rackham; this copy number 45. Nos. 1 to 260 were for sale in Great Britain and Ireland and Nos. 261 to 520 for sale in the U.S. REFERENCES: Latimore & Haskell, p. 61. CONDITION: Very good, slight toning to edges of covers, contents clean and attractive; dust jacket good, rubbed, short tears and small losses at edges, lightly soiled.
Seller: James Arsenault & Company, ABAA, Arrowsic, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$2614.74 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Quarto. Limited edition of 520 copies, numbered and signed by the artist. This being no. 178 of those for sale in the U.K. Quarto. Vellum parchment binding with gilt-stamped lettering and gilt-stamped vignette to cover, gilt spine lettering and decoration, top edge gilt, others deckled. Unopened copy. Pp. xiv, 185, with 21 tipped-in, full-colour illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Spine a little darkened with one tiny chip at heel, browning around margins of covers. Overall a near fine, crisp, clean copy.
Seller: Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$3845.96 + shipping
Description: First Rackham edition, signed limited issue, number 278 of 520 copies signed by the illustrator. The limited issue includes an additional plate, "Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell", not present in the trade edition. This handsomely bound copy pairs the enchanting illustrations of Arthur Rackham with one of the most magical of Shakespeare's plays. Quarto. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in dark green morocco, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, raised bands, covers ruled in gilt, pictorial title block on front cover in gilt, turn-ins with twin gilt rules, burgundy endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. With 16 tipped-in colour plates. A fine copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom