Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: 43 pp. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. 8vo, publisher's gilt-lettered limp vellum, in slipcase. First edition; No. 380 of 410 copies, signed by Arthur Rackham. A fine copy in a dust-soiled and worn slipcase, splitting at joints and missing a piece of one short section.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$1260.04 + shipping
Description: Signed limited edition, number 46 of 410 copies signed by the illustrator. Rossetti's Goblin Market, first published in 1862, is a fantastical narrative poem, interpreted variously as a feminist tract, a capitalist critique, an allegory for drug addiction, and a children's story; Rackham's delightfully eerie illustrations are notably well-suited to the text's looming sense of danger. Rackham's nephew, the writer Walter Starkie, "confessed to thinking Rackham was a goblin 'in his shabby blue suit and carpet slippers, hopping about the studio with a palette on one arm, waving a paintbrush in his hand'" (ODNB). Latimore & Haskell, p. 69; Riall, p. 179. Octavo. Original limp vellum, front cover lettered in gilt, illustrated endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Colour frontispiece and three colour plates, black and white illustrations in the text, all by Rackham. Extremities a little bumped, some minor soiling to covers, occasional foxing: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$1292.34 + shipping
Description: Signed limited edition, one of 410 copies signed by the illustrator, this an out-of-series copy, marked "special" by Rackham on the limitation page. Rossetti's Goblin Market, first published in 1862, is a fantastical narrative poem, interpreted variously as a feminist tract, a capitalist critique, an allegory for drug addiction, and a children's story; Rackham's delightfully eery illustrations are notably well-suited to the text's looming sense of danger. Rackham's nephew, the writer Walter Starkie, "confessed to thinking Rackham was a goblin 'in his shabby blue suit and carpet slippers, hopping about the studio with a palette on one arm, waving a paintbrush in his hand'" (ODNB). Latimore & Haskell, p. 69; Riall, p. 179. Octavo. Original limp vellum, front cover lettered in gilt, illustrated endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. With the original slipcase, paper label to upper panel printed in black. Colour frontispiece, 3 colour plates, black and white illustrations throughout. Half-title and title page printed in black and gilt. Vellum slightly cockled, hint of foxing to covers, contents clean and fresh; slipcase rubbed and lightly worn, a couple of panels discreetly repaired: a near-fine copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$1750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Limited edition # 55 of four hundred and sixty copies signed by the illustrator Arthur Rackham, very good hardcover (full vellum ruled in gilt with gilt letter and decoration)(no jacket or slipcase) with top page edges gilt that shows soiling to covers, exposure toning to white from off white along top edge of rear cover about an inch deep, mild wrinkling and touch of darkening along spine, tiny closed tear at spine head, foxing along top edges and bit of same at top edges inside covers, gift inscription at top of front blank, touch of soil at rear pastedown, mild spot of occasional soil to pages within and some other very minor trace wear including unattached ribbon marker laid-in. 287 pages (have been cut in a fairly clean manner) with decorative endpapers, eight illustrated color plates, and over 50 illustrations to text. Still a solid and pleasing copy of this limited edition featuring new illustrations and signature by Rackham that compliment some of the great fairy tales of all time including Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and the Beast, the Ugly Duckling, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Rip Van Winkle, and many, many others. Signed.
Seller: Barker Books & Vintage, Helena, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$1938.52 + shipping
Description: Deluxe edition, number 307 of 460 copies signed by the artist. Rackham's edition of "old favourites of the nursery that have such a hold on our affections that their incidents, characters, and even phrases have become part of our everyday thought and expression, and help to shape our lives". The work includes key tales such as Beauty and the Beast, Blue Bear, The Ugly Duckling, and The Story of Aladdin. Reviewing the publication on 23 November 1933, the Times Literary Supplement stated "colour, line and silhouette light up these lovely pages. Have the Three Bears ever been more appealing - or Fatima more deliciously nervous with her bunch of keys?" Latimore & Haskell p. 69; Riall p. 182. Octavo. Original japon, lettering and vignette to spine in gilt, lettering and three-line border to front cover in gilt, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, traces of yellow bookmarker. In the publisher's original numbered paper slipcase. Colour frontispiece and 7 similar plates, numerous black and white illustrations in the text by Arthur Rackham. Binding square and tight, spine toned, light foxing to covers, faint toning to endpapers, contents crisp and clean, a very good copy. Retaining the rare original slipcase, couple of short splits to edges, but sound.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Condition: As New
Description: Numbered copy 18, of 410 copies, 400 of which were for sale. 8vo. 45 pp. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham: four color plates, nineteen b/w drawings. Vellum binding with gilt titling on the front panel. The book is very fine; in truth it is in superb condition. The near-fine slipcase has a printed title label on the top edge.
Seller: Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Inc., Brecksville, OH, U.S.A.
Price: US$2464.25 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: A limited edition of 460 signed by Rackham. An inspired anthology drawn from "old favourites of the nursery.Most of them had a long and eventful life of oral tradition before somebody who could write caught them as they flew and consigned them to cold print" [Illustrator's Preface]. Classics by Hans Anderson such as "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Emperor's New Clothes" and Charles Perrault's "Cinderella" and "Puss in Boots" appear with tales from 'The Arabian Nights' and the traditional English folk tale "Jack and the Beanstalk" and Washington Irving's American classic "Rip van Winkle". Published near the end of his remarkable career, Rackham with characteristic rich earth-tones illustrates a mythical fairy world in this beautifully published edition. He is mindful of belonging to an ancient tradition of story-telling and notes "in our own day, inspired story-tellers go on adding original characters to the stock-an Alice, a Peter Pan, and a Mr. Toad", forecasting a Golden Age of British book illustration. Scarce in this original limited edition. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Provenance: James Fairfax (from his library at Retford Park, Bowral NSW, with bookplate). Octavo, 8 full-colour plates and 60 line-drawings in the text, spine and cover with original gilt-work, top edge gilt, others uncut; original publisher's vellum over boards. Limited edition of 460 signed by the artist.
Seller: Rare Illustrated Books, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Rackham, Arthur. The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book. George G. Harrap, 1933.
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition. A sharp copy of this limited edition of 460 copies SIGNED by Arthur Rackham. The book is in nice shape. The binding is tight, and the boards are crisp with light wear to the spine and edges. The pages are clean with no writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy SIGNED by Rackham in collector's condition. We buy SIGNED Rackham books.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$4846.29 + shipping
Description: Deluxe edition, number 457 of 460 copies signed by the artist. This copy includes an ink drawing on the preliminary blank leaf of the three bears climbing the stairs to discover Goldilocks in bed; it is signed "Arthur Rackham" in the lower right corner. The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book is described in the preface as a collection of "old favourites of the nursery that have such a hold on our affections that their incidents, characters, and even phrases have become part of our everyday thought and expression, and help to shape our lives". Reviewing the publication, the Times Literary Supplement stated that "colour, line and silhouette light up these lovely pages. Have the Three Bears ever been more appealing - or Fatima more deliciously nervous with her bunch of keys?" Latimore & Haskell p. 69; Riall p. 182; Times Literary Supplement, 23 November 1933. Octavo. Original vellum, lettering and vignette to spine in gilt, lettering and three-line border to front cover in gilt, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Colour frontispiece and 7 colour plates, numerous black and white illustrations in the text, all by Arthur Rackham. Light consistent soiling to vellum, occasional light foxing and browning: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom