Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Stated at copyrigh page: "London : William Heinemann, 1920". Large 9 1/4" x 11 1/2" design. Stated at limitation page: "This Edition de Luxe, printed on English Hand-made Paper, with an additional colour-plate, is limited to 625 copies (600 for sale) numbered and signed by Arthur Rackahm, of which 100 are reserved for the United States of America. No. '251,' 'Arthur Rackham.'" Cream boards, stylish gilt cover and spine titles, cream vellum spine wrap, moderate edge, corner wear, rub, discoloration. Cover vignette features a kneeling knave with platter offering in gilt. The Primerose or 'Briar Rose' color plate adjacent first page of tale is present and the wonderfully dark design captures the sleeping beauty in her spell. Bind good; hinges intact. This is The Sleeping Beauty translated by C. S. Evans from the original French of Charles Perrault. The spectacular English variant of Arthur Rackham's illustrated 'The Sleeping Beauty'. Illustrated throughout by Arthur Rackham in a unique silhouette style; features b&w and several silhouettes decorated in red, slate, and black. Several two-page spreads over adjacent pages. Includes twenty-five full-page silhouettes, nine in color (frontispiece and four double plates) - and sixteen in black (four double illustrations); the rare color mounted frontispiece; silhouette head-and tail-pieces and other silhouettes throughout the text. Near very good signed limited edition. From the great Golden Age of Illustration in children's literature comes this tale of The Sleeping Beauty. One of the most famous and beloved of all the folk tale classics is adapted here by C. S. Evans in collaboration with Rackham to create one of the most wonderful editions of any fairy tale. Rackham creates a fantasy world of crisp silhouette images to depict characters from the fable of a girl's transformation into a princess. Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) was one of the premier illustrators of the twentieth century. Throughout his career, he developed a very individual style that was to influence a whole generation of children and artists. His haunting humour and dream-like romance enhance the enchantment of The Sleeping Beauty. "It is immediately clear that Rackham is a master of the medium (silhouette), being able to evoke character and humour by profile and gesture alone, and allowing the two dimensional effect of his pen work to lead the reader through the book and keep the story going." - Latimore & Haskell "Rackham's fanciful imagination gave his illustrations instant recognition, and his dedication to illustration kept him in the public eye for 30 years" (Hodnett, 233). Like his Cinderella (1919), The Sleeping Beauty relied "almost wholly for its effect on silhouette. Rackham was a master of the medium, being able to evoke character and humor by profile and gesture alone, and allowing the two-dimensional effect of his pen work to lead the reader through the book and flow the story along" (Hamilton, 118). Charles Perrault's story as told by C. S. Evans begins with the King and Queen longing for a child. When at last a child is conceived and born, three fairy godmothers bless her at a feast. Fairy godmother Flora bestows upon her the gift of beauty, Fauna gives her the gift of song, and Merryweather begins to give her a gift, but Maleficent arrives and casts a spell that on her sixteenth birthday, the girl will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Merryweather uses her gift so that she instead will fall into sleep, only to be awakened by a kiss from her true love. Her parents send her to stay with the fairies to hide her from Maleficent. She meets Phillip, but does not know he is a prince. She then must return home to the castle as promised, and upon her return Maleficent appears and lures her to prick her finger on a spinning wheel. The fairies then cast a spell over the entire kingdom so the King and Queen won't know that she has been put under the spell. They give Prince Phillip the shield of virtue and the sword of truth to rescue her. He uses these to battle the witch when she turns into a dragon. Phillip races to the sleeping beauty and awakens her with a kiss. The kingdom rises from slumber and Prince Phillip and the princess are married and live happily. The classic good versus evil mythos in which a damsel is rescued by a valiant prince and all ends well - passed down through the ages since first created long, long ago. Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Ltd, Brunswick St., Stamford St., and Bungay, Suffolk. 110 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.