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Arthur Rackham brought to life characters in stories such as Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle (1905) and Grimms Fairy Tales through his illustration. Rackham's work includes a wide spectrum of creativity from the grotesque to the romantic. His creations have contributed to and embellished the "Golden Age" of illustration, which continues to endure well into the present day. The introduction of the book Arthur Rackham by Leo John De Freitas, describes the methods and techniques used in Rackham's illustrations as he says: Like so many of the artists and illustrators working at the turn of the century Arthur Rackham took full advantage of the developments in new printing processes. When he was born, in 1867, wood engraving was the predominant method by which an illustrator's work was reproduced. However, when he made his debut in book illustration in the last decade of the century, the new photomechanical line block process had become a major threat to the older process. The illustrations show how Rackham fully appreciated, and skillfully used, the three-color printing process which flourished from the opening years of the twentieth century. (Leo John De Freitas)
Even though Rackham employed a variety of techniques in his illustration, each illustration brings to life new meaning for the work it represents. Arthur Rackham was born in London on September 19, 1867. He is the third surviving child of Annie and Alfred Rackham and entered City of London School in 1879. He began drawing at an early age and trained under Herbett Dicksee, the School Drawing Master. He was awarded a school prize for the best "Memory Drawing" during the summer and received another award for drawing during the winter term in 1883. In 1884, the Rackhams relocated to Australia to help improve Arthur's ailing health where they stayed from January through may and then returned home to England. Although Rackham only spent a short time in Australia, the land down under inspired the promising illustrator. One of his earliest surviving watercoulers is Castle Rising, Norfolk, which was painted during his visit to Australia. The following autumn, Arthur enrolled at the Lambeth School of Art, while at the same time seeked employment to help pay for the school tuition. Rackham passed an exam to enter the Westminster Fire Office as a clerk. During October and November his schooling began to pay off because some of his illustrations were published for the first time in the Scraps Magazine. In 1885, he was appointed Junior Clerk, 4th Class, at Westminster Fire Office earning a salary of 40 pounds per year. Rackham's watercolour, Winchelsea from the Marsh, was his first work in public exhibition which took place at the Royal Academe in 1888. A couple of years later he left Lambeth School of Art and began regularly contributing illustrations to Pall Mall Budget, which was a general interest magazine for adults with a regular children's section. He resigned from Westminster Fire Office and from Pall Mall Budget in order to put forth all of his work and effort into his art. He pursued work in the Westminster Budget as a reporter and regularly contributed illustrations to the Westminster Gazette in 1893. His drawings began to reveal a unique range of imagination as he employed the use of the new halftone process. In the introduction of Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, he describes Rackham's transformation from newspaper journalist to illustrator as he says: Essentially a graphic journalist in his early years, the young artist showed little of the imaginative genius that was to emerge later, although he developed an eye for detail and an integrity of line that was to be characteristic of his future work. The first flowering of his fanciful style was The Dolly Dialogues, published in 1894. It is speculated that his seemingly overnight transformation from a good journalist-artist to the prolific portrayer of fantastic dwarfs, giants, elves, fairies, and gnomes, of sea serpents and water nymphs, of humanized animals and trees, was partially due to his release from the constraining bonds of newspaper report- ing. Whatever the cause, this imaginative outpouring led to a highly lucrative career in book illustration. (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch 7)
Arthur Rackham took part in an exhibition of publishers J.M. Dent's black and white artists to mark the publication of Morte Darthur, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley, at the Institute of Watercolour Painters in Piccadilly in 1894. He was appointed Admiralty Marshal and began illustrating for Cassell's magazines Chums and Little Folks and other Cassell publications. Over the next few years, Rackham retired as Admiralty Marshall and illustrated works published by J.M. Dent such as Harriet Martineau's Feats on the Fjord, Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, Gulliver's Travels, and Grimm's Fairy Tales by Freemantle Co.
In 1901, he became engaged to Edyth Starkie and was included in a loan exhibition of Modern Illustration at Victoria and Albert Museum and Edinburgh. He was elected Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society and began to exhibit at the RWA summer and winter exhibitions. By 1902 he was a member of the Langham Sketching Club. Arthur Rackham and Edyth Starkie were married in 1903 and gave birth to a stillborn child in march 1904. Ernest Brown and Phillips gave Rackham commission for 51 illustrations to Rip Van Winkle and was exhibited at St Louis International and Dusseldorf International exhibitions. He won a Gold Medal at the Milan International Exhibition and participated in an exhibition at Leicester Galleries in December after Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was published. In 1907, Arthur Rackham was profiled in The World in their feature "Celebrities at Home," and received a contract for Alice in Wonderland. [Barnes, J. M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. New York: Charles Scribners and Sons, 1902, 1906. p. 127] Barbara Rackham was born to Edyth and Arthur Rackham in January of 1908. In November of that year, The Daily Mirror published Rackham's views on dolls and his belief that illustrators and authors should work together. The following year Rackham was elected to the Artworkers' Guild and Gulliver, Grimm and Lamb's Tale were reissued. In 1910, Rackham presented his view on the role of illustration to the Authors' Club in January while at the same time he received a contract for two volumes of The Ring with Heinemann. Rackham was elected Vice President of RWS that year and held that office for the next two years. He was once again published, by The Daily News, on his views concerning the decline of caricature. Arthur Rackham was awarded a 1st Class Medal at the Barcelona International exhibition in 1911 for his illustrations from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Undine, The Ring, and The Imp of the Smoke, which was purchased by the Barcelona Museum. In 1912, he was elected into the position of Associate of the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. He sold some of his work to Edmund Davis for presentation to the Luxembourg Gallery in Paris as well as being included in exhibitions at the Louvre, Paris, and in Leipzig in 1914. During the next few years, Rackham's contributions include King Albert's Book, Princess Mary's Gift Book, and The Queen's Gift Book. In 1919, he was elected Master of the Art worker's Guild in which he would speak publicly on issues that have an impact on the profession. During this time he was commissioned to illustrate a series of soap advertisements for the Colgate Co. which turned out to be his largest commission in the United States. Arthur Rackham died of cancer in his home on September 6, 1939. The most distinctive qualities of his illustrations was the way in which he told the story through his illustrations. His eye for detail and gift of imagination and creativity, which are characteristic of his illustrations, were an influence of the sixteenth century German artists Albrecht Durer and Albrecht Altdorfer. The illustrator left behind a legacy of over 60 illustrated books including the works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickins, James Barrie and Lewis Carroll. He is known and beloved internationally for his work in Classic fiction and Children's literature.
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Darrell, Margery. Once Upon a Time: The Fairy Tale World of Arthur Rackham. New York : Viking Press, 1972. Gettings, Fred. Arthur Rackham. New York : Macmillan, 1975. Hamilton, James. Arthur Rackham: A Bibliography. New York : Arcade, 1990. Hudson, Derek. Arthur Rackham, His Life and Work. New York : Scribner, 1973. Riall, Richard. A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham. Bath [England]: Ross, 1994. |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Ill by Arthur Rackham 1907. 20 Feb. 2006 Arthur Rackham. Aleph -Bet Books. 20 Feb. 2006 http://www.alephbet.com/rackham.htm
Arthur Rackham and His Art. 20 Feb. 2006. |
NOTE: This bibliography does not include reprints, translations, compilations, serial illustrations, non-book items for home decoration such as wallpaper and tiles, or the picture books -- mostly unpublished. In addition, books to which Rackham contributed but did not illustrate entirely are not included. Items held by the University of Pittsburgh are followed by the item's location number.
Adair-Fitzgerald, S.J. The Zankiwank and the Bletherwitch. J.M. Dent, 1896.
Aesop. Aesop's Fables. London: W. Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, 1912. Aesop's Fables. New York: F. Watts, 1968. Aesop's Fables. New York: Avenel Books, 1975. The Allies' Fairy Book. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1916 Andersen, H.C. Fairy Tales. New York: Weathervane Books, 1977 Andersen, Hans Christian. Fairy Tales. George G. Harrap, 1932. (Also: Philadelphia: David McKay Co., 1932). Barham, Richard Harris. The Ingoldsby Legends. London: J.M. Dent ; Aldine House, 1905. Barrie, J.M. The Little White Bird. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1902. Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906. Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920. Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. New York: Weathervane Books, 1975. Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Leicester, England: Brockhampton, 1970. Barrie, J.M. The Peter Pan Portfolio. London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1912. Biano, Margery Williams. Poor Cecco. George H. Doran, 1925. Bianco, Margery Williams. Poor Cecco. New York: The Junior Literary Guild and Doubleday, 1934, c1925. Bonser, A.E., B. Sidney Woolf, and E.S. Buchleim. The Land of Enchantment. London: Cassell, 1907. Brown, Abbie Farwell. The Lonesomest Doll. Boston and New York: Houghton & Mifflin, 1928. Browne, Maggie. The Book of Betty Barber. London : Duckworth, 1910. Browne, Maggie. The Surprising Adventures of Tuppy and Tue. London: Cassell, 1904. Browne, Maggie. Two Old Ladies, Two Foolish Fairies and a Cat: The Surprising Adventures of Tuppy and Tue. London: Cassell, 1897. Browning, Robert. The Pied Piper of Hamelin. George G. Harrap, 1934. (Also: Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1934). Byron, May. J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens Retold for Little People. Hodder & Stoughton, 1930. Byron, May Clarissa Gillington. J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. New York: Scribner's, 1930. Carrol, Lewis [Charles Dodgson]. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. London: William Heinemann, 1907. Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. New York: Viking Press, 1975. Darrell, Margery. Once Upon a Time: The Fairy Tale World of Arthur Rackham. New York: Viking Press, 1972. Dickens, Charles. The Chimes. London: Printed by G.W. Jones for the members of the Limited Editions Club, 1931. Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott; London : William Heinemann, 1915. Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories. Stamford, CT : Longmeadow, 1993. Evans, Charles S. Cinderella. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott; London: William Heinemann, 1919. Evans, C. S. Cinderella. New York: Viking Press, 1972. Evans, C. S. The Sleeping Beauty. New York: Viking Press, 1972. Evans, C. S. The Sleeping Beauty. Philadelphia: Lippincott; London: Heinemann, 1920. Fairy Tales from Many Lands. New York: Viking Press, 1974. Ford, Julia Ellsworth. Snickerty Nick, Rhymes by Whitter Bynner. New York: Moffet, Yard. 1919. Gates, Eleanor. Good Night. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1907. Goldsmith, Oliver. The Vicar of Wakefield. This edition is number 510 of a limited edition of 575 copies issued in England and is signed by Arthur Rackham. The book is white with gold trim, contains thirty-four illustrations (twelve color and twenty-two black and white), and is stored in its original box, bound with a length of cloth cord. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1929. Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York: Heritage Press, 1952. Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1940. Grimm, Jacob. The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1909. Grimm, Jacob. The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. London: Constable,1909. Grimm, Jacob. Hansel and Grethel. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1923. Grimm, Jacob. Little Brother and Little Sister. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1917. Grimm, Jacob. Snowdrop and Other Tales. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, 1923. Grimm's Fairy Tales; Twenty Stories. New York: Viking Press, 1973. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. A Wonder Book. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing, 1922. Haydon, A.L. Stories of King Arthur. London: Cassell, 1905. Herbertson, Agnes Crozier. The Bee-Blowaways. London: Cassell, 1900. Hole, Samuel Reynolds. Our Gardens. London: J.M. Dent, 1899. Hudson, Derek. Arthur Rackham: His Life and Work. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1960. Ibsen, Henrik. Peer Gynt: A Dramatic Poem. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1936. Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby Legends: Or, Mirth & Marvels. London: J.M. Dent, 1905. Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby Legends: Or, Mirth & Marvels. London: J.M. Dent, 1930. Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. New York: Books of Wonder, c1990. Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Drexel Hill, PA.: Bell, 1928. Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Philadelphia: David McKay, 1928. Kenyon, C.R. The Argonauts of the Amazon. London: W.R. Chambers., 1901.(Also: New York: E.P. Dutton, 1901.) Kipling, Rudyard. Puck of Pook's Hill. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1906. Kipling, Rudyard. Puck of Pook's Hill. New York: Dover Publications, 1968. La Motte-Fouque, Friedrich Heinrich Karl, freiherr de. Undine. London: William Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, Page, 1909. La Motte-Fouque. Undine. London: W. Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, Page, 1912. Lamb, Charles. Tales from Shakespeare. London: J.M. Dent; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1909. Lamb, Charles. Tales from Shakespeare. London: J.M. Dent; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1963. Lamb, Charles. Tales from Shakespeare. London: Dent; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1957. Little Brother & Little Sister and Other Tales by the Brothers Grimm. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1917. Malory, Thomas, Sir. The Romance of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. New York: Weathervane, 1917. ENR PR2043 P7 1917 Malory, Sir Thomas. The Romance of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. New York: Macmillan, 1917. Martineau, Harriet. Feats on the Fjord. London: J.M. Dent; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1914. Milton, John. Comus. This edition is number 444 of 550 copies that were for sale in the United Kingdom and the United States and is signed by the artist. The volume is bound in green leather with embossed gold highlights and features sixty-one illustrations, twenty-four of them in color. The book is stored in a sturdy, tan, hinged box with a Rackham illustration on the front.) New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.; London: William Heinemann, 1921. Moore, Clement C. The Night Before Christmas. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1931. Moore, Clement Clarke. The Night Before Christmas. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1900. Morley, Christopher Darlington. Where the Blue Begins. London: William Heinemann ; New York: Doubleday, Page, 1922. Mother Goose: The Old Nursery Rhymes. New York: Marathon, 1978. Mother Goose. The Old Nursery Rhymes. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Niebuhr. The Greek Heroes: Stories translated from Niebuhr, with additions. London: Cassell, 1903. Poe, Edgar Allen. Tales of Mystery and Imagination. London: George G. Harrap., 1935. (Also: Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1935). Poe, Edgar Allan. Tales of Terror and Fantasy: Ten Stories from "Tales of Mystery and Imagination." London: Dent; New York: Dutton, 1971. Rackham, Arthur. The Allies' Fairy Book. London: William Heinemann, 1916. (Also: Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1916). Rackham, Arthur. Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures. London: William Heinemann, 1913. (Also: New York: The Century Co., 1913). Rossetti, Christina. Goblin Market. London: George G. Harrap, 1933. (Also: Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1933). Rackham, Arthur. The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott, n.d. Rackham, Arthur. The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book, a Book of Old Favourites with New Illustrations. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1933 Rackham, Arthur. The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book, a Book of Old Favourites with New Illustrations. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1950 Rossetti, Christina Georgina. Goblin Market. New York: F. Watts, 1969. Ruskin, John. The King of the Golden River. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott, 1932. Ruskin, John. The King of the Golden River. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott, n.d. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer-Night's Dream. New York: Doubleday, Page; London: William Heinemann, 1908. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer-Night's Dream. London: William Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, Page, 1911. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer-Night's Dream. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1939. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer-Night's Dream. New York: Viking Press, 1977. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream: the text of the first Folio, with quarto insertions. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1939. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. London: William Heinemann, 1926. (Also: New York: Doubleday, Page, 1926). Some British Ballads. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1919. Starkie, Walter. Don Gypsy; Adventures with a Fiddle in Southern Spain and Barbary. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1937. Steel, Flora Annie Webster. English Fairy Tales. New York: Macmillan, 1930. Steel, Flora Annie Webster. English Fairy Tales. New York: Macmillan, 1962. Stephens, James. Irish Fairy Tales. New York: Macmillan, 1920. Stephens, James. Irish Fairy Tales. New York: Abaris Books, 1978. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. London: J.M. Dent; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1909. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. The Springtide of Life: Poems of Childhood. London: William Heinemann, 1918. Tennant, Lady Pamela. The Children and the Pictures. London: William Heinemann ; New York: Macmillan,1907. Wagner, Richard. The Rhinegold and the Valkyrie. New York: Garden City Publishing, 1939. Wagner, Richard. The Rhinegold and the Valkyrie. New York: Doubleday, Page; London: William Heinemann, 1910. Wagner, Richard. The Rhinegold and the Valkyrie. London: William Heinemann, 1918. Wagner, Richard. Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods. New York: Doubleday, Page ; London: William Heinemann, 1911. Wagner, Richard. The Ring of the Niblung. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1923. Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler, or, the Contemplative Man's Recreation: Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fishponds, Fish and Fishing not Unworthy the Perusal of Most Anglers. Hopewell, NJ.: Ecco, 1995. Watson, Izaak. The Compleat Angler, or, the Contemplative Man's Recreation: Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fishponds, Fish and Fishing not Unworthy the Perusal of Most Anglers. New York: Weathervane Books, 1975 This resource guide represents the combined work of the following people: Jeanann Croft , Michelle Frisque, Beth Kean, and Elizabeth T. Mahoney. Updated by David M. Frank, February 2006. |
