Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
STEPHENS, James. RACKHAM, Arthur (illus.). Irish Fairy Tales.. Macmillan & Co., Ltd., London, 1920.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: x, 318 pp. Illustrated with 16 color plates by Arthur Rackham, each with printed tissue overleaf. 8vo, publisher's green gilt cloth in dust jacket. First trade edition. Better than very good in a lightly tanned jacket (more so at the spine) with a few tiny chips, edgwear, and some tiny splash marks. Rackham bibliographer Sarah Lattimore's copy, with her bookplate and two others. Signed by James Stephens on the front free endpaper.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Oversized hardcover. Vellum (paper) spine and tan boards, both stamped with gold. Binding good and tight, with some minor wear to the edges and corners. Small (3/4 inch) tear at the base of the spine. A limited edition of 520 copies signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page. 318 pages. 16 color illustrations tipped in (with tissue guards) and 21 black and white drawings. Binding good and tight. Measures 9 x 11 pages. Receipt from Bauman rare Books tucked inside (from the 1990s). (They described it as 'a fine copy'.) Please email with questions or to request photos.
Seller: Riverby Books, Fredericksburg, VA, U.S.A.
Price: US$3228.59 + shipping
Description: Signed limited edition, one of 520 unnumbered copies signed by the artist, one of Rackham's significant successes. The Dublin Independent stated "Some of Mr Rackham's pictures are pure poems - they set you dreaming". James Hamilton notes that "in writing the stories, [James] Stephens had attempted to create an Irish equivalent of The Arabian Nights, his own poetic retelling of the stories which existed in the oral tradition and in Gaelic texts, but which had not appeared accessibly in print". In the opinion of his biographer, "Rackham rose to the occasion" (Hamilton, p. 128). Riall, p. 138. James Hamilton, Arthur Rackham: a life with illustration, 1990. Quarto. Original vellum-backed boards, spine and front cover lettered and decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Colour frontispiece and 15 mounted colour plates with captioned tissue guards, black and white illustrations in the text, all by Rackham. Extremities a little bumped and rubbed, some consistent foxing to spine, light soiling to rear cover, foxing and browning to endpapers: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
STEPHENS, James. RACKHAM, Arthur (illus.). Irish Fairy Tales.. Macmillan & Co., London, 1920.
Price: US$4500.00 + shipping
Description: x, 318 pp. With sixteen tipped-in color plates with captioned tissue guards and text illustrations in black and white. 4to, publisher's vellum-backed boards decorated in gold, t.e.g.; in custom cloth folding box. First edition; one of 520 copies signed by Arthur Rackham. Riall, p. 138. Two bookplates to pastedown; boards a bit soiled and rubbed at edges; endsheets very slightly darkened; still, an attractive copy. With Rackham's original signed pen-and-ink drawingshaded in watercolors, for the headpiece on p. 37 of this volume, titled on verso by the artist, "A.R. No. 12 Little Boy Climbing by Arthur Rackham."
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
RACKHAM, Arthur; STEPHENS, James. IRISH FAIRY TALES. Macmillan, 1920.
Price: US$5811.46 + shipping
Description: First Rackham edition. Edition de Luxe. One of only 520 copies signed by Arthur Rackham. Large 4to. Original quarter parchment over boards, spine titled in gilt and gilt vignette to upper cover. An exceptional copy. A book which rarely survives in clean condition, this copy is extremely bright, with just light bumps to corners and offsetting to the endpapers from the original dustwrapper. The exceedingly rare dustwrapper has some chips and tears, but remains clean and attractive, with the printed price of £3/3- intact. Sixteen colour plates are mounted onto tan art paper and set within a border, under captioned tissue guards. There are also various chapter headings in black and white. The Bookman, 1920, describes these tales as "for the child whose parents worship Ireland, for those with adoration for her legends."
Seller: Jonkers Rare Books, Henley on Thames, OXON, United Kingdom