Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
(Rackham, Arthur) Wagner, Richard. The Ring of the Niblung: THE RHINEGOLD & THE VALKYRIE. , 1910.
Price: US$775.00 + shipping
Description: With Illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Translated by Margaret Armour. London: William Heinemann | New York: Doubleday Page & Co., 1910. Original light brown buckram pictorially decorated in gilt, with dust jacket. First Arthur Rackham edition, trade issue (there were also 1150 signed copies bound in white parchment). A year later, the concluding volume of "The Ring" was published -- SIEGFRIED & THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS. This is one of Rackham's more outstanding achievements: the volume contains 34 color plates, each tipped onto heavy art paper with a printed tissue guard. This volume is in fine condition, with scarcely any soil or wear. Included is Heinemann's 1910 pictorial dust jacket, repeating the book's decoration: it is in very good-plus condition (light wear at the spine ends and upper edge of the rear panel, faint damp-mark on the latter). The front free endpaper bears a small "Xmas 1911" signature.
Seller: Sumner & Stillman [ABAA], Yarmouth, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: From signed limitation page: "This Edition is limited to eleven hundred and fifty copies, numbered and signed by the artist, of which one hundred and fifty are reserved for the United States of America. No. '270,' 'Arthure Rackham.'" Very attractive. 1910 at title page; no other dates. Cream vellum boards, gilt cover titles, moderate shelf, corner wear, rub, discoloration. Exterior spine and bind professionally redone with sharp impressed gilt titles on white leather. Crisp gilt cover design features Brunnhilde riding to battle on her horse; above this, titles and richly stylized dragon eating its tail or variety of ourobouros. Thick, deckled leaves, near very good. Impressive volume richly illustrated with thirty-four mounted colour plates by Arthur Rackham with captioned tissue guards. Bind fine, square; hinges intact. Impressively, this volume retains the original golden ribbons to tie volume's cover closed or utilize as page markers. Near good signed rarity of fine book craftsmanship. These works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas, and are translated here into English by Margaret Armour. The parts included in this volume are: The Rhinegold, the prelude, and The Valkyrie, the first day of the trilogy. Initially establishing his reputation as a romantic composer, Richard Wagner revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), by which he sought to synthesize the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts. This edition of The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie is heightened by the dazzling color illustrations of a master of the craft, Arthur Rackham. One of the most celebrated painters of the British Golden Age of Illustration - 1850 until the start of the First World War, Rackhams artistry is unparalleled. Throughout his career, he developed a unique style, combining haunting humour with dream-like romance. Presented alongside the text, these illustrations further refine and elucidate Wagners captivating storytelling. Printed by Ballantyne & Co. Limited, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London. 161 pages of text with thirty-four tipped-in plates. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$1600.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: The deluxe limited edition, limited to 1150 copies signed by Rackham, this being one of the 150 copies reserved for the Unites States of America. Quarto, publisher's half vellum and brown paper-covered boards. Top edges gilt; others uncut. Illustrated with 34 full-page mounted color plates by Rackham. Captioned tissue guards. Light soil to the spine, else a sound, near-fine copy preserved in the publisher's board chemise (broken) and slipcase (worn). Scarce thus.
Seller: The Literary Lion,Ltd., Thousand Oaks, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2350.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: From signed limitation page: "This Edition is limited to eleven hundred and fifty copies, numbered and signed by the artist, of which one hundred and fifty are reserved for the United States of America. No. '716,' 'Arthure Rackham.'" Very attractive. 1910 at title page; no other dates. Cream full vellum (leather) boards, gilt cover titles and design, light shelf wear, edge wear, rub. Crisp gilt cover design features Brunnhilde riding to battle on her horse; above this, titles and richly stylized dragon eating its tail or variety of ourobouros. Spine with crisp titles and vignette of the classic circular dragon tail eater. Pages generally fine; moderate fox inside covers. Antiquarian bookplate featuring crest inside cover: "Mountstuart Elphinstone." Impressive volume richly illustrated with thirty-four mounted colour plates by Arthur Rackham with captioned tissue guards. Bind fine, square; hinges intact. Impressively, this volume retains the original gold satin ribbons to tie volume's cover closed or utilize as page markers. Near fine signed rarity of fine book craftsmanship. These works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas, and are translated here into English by Margaret Armour. The parts included in this volume are: The Rhinegold, the prelude, and The Valkyrie, the first day of the trilogy. Initially establishing his reputation as a romantic composer, Richard Wagner revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), by which he sought to synthesize the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts. This edition of The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie is heightened by the dazzling color illustrations of a master of the craft, Arthur Rackham. One of the most celebrated painters of the British Golden Age of Illustration - 1850 until the start of the First World War, Rackhams artistry is unparalleled. Throughout his career, he developed a unique style, combining haunting humour with dream-like romance. Presented alongside the text, these illustrations further refine and elucidate Wagners captivating storytelling. Printed by Ballantyne & Co. Limited, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London. 161 pages of text with thirty-four tipped-in plates. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$3537.26 + shipping
Description: Signed limited editions, number 891 and 87 respectively of 1,150 copies signed by the illustrator. Fred Gettings notes that "in the final picture of Siegfried. there is a lyric beauty of colour, line and form which Rackham rarely achieves again. This is Rackham's personal style taken to its highest point of expressive delicacy". Fred Gettings, Arthur Rackham, London, Studio Vista, 1975, pp. 130-31; Riall, p. 109. Two volumes, quarto. Original white vellum, lettering on spines and front covers in gilt, decoration on front covers in gilt, top edges gilt and others untrimmed. Colour frontispieces and 62 colour plates mounted on thick brown paper, with captioned tissue guards, black and white illustrations in the text, all by Arthur Rackham. Some soiling to bindings, extremities of first volume bumped, some scratches and abrasions to first volume, some internal foxing and browning, lacking silk ties, else good copies.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$3858.83 + shipping
Description: Signed limited editions, number 553 and 769 respectively of 1,150 copies signed by the illustrator. Fred Gettings notes that "in the final picture of Siegfried. there is a lyric beauty of colour, line and form which Rackham rarely achieves again. This is Rackham's personal style taken to its highest point of expressive delicacy". Fred Gettings, Arthur Rackham, London, Studio Vista, 1975, pp. 130-1; Riall, p. 109. Two volumes, quarto. Original white vellum, lettering on spines and front covers in gilt, decoration on front covers in gilt, top edges gilt and others untrimmed, two ties remaining one of which detached. Colour frontispieces and 62 colour plates mounted on thick brown paper, with captioned tissue guards, black and white illustrations in the text, all by Arthur Rackham. Contemporary gift inscription to front free endpapers. Tiny indentation to front cover of Rhinegold, split to front inner joint of the same (still firm), contents with some offsetting from illustrations and mounts, vol. II pp. 129-138 with small brown stain at foot, very good copies, bindings fresh.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom