CHILDREN & ILLUSTRATED 90 “A Turning Point In His Career”: The First Of Rackham’s Deluxe Signed Limited Editions, Rip Van Winkle, A Beautiful Copy 106 (RACKHAM, Arthur) IRVING, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. London, 1905. Quarto, original full pictorial vellum gilt, custom slipcase. $12,000 Deluxe signed limited first edition, with 51 full-color mounted plates by Rackham, one of only 250 copies signed by Rackham, one of the smallest limitations for a Rackham title and “the first book illustrated wholly by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition” (Riall). One of the most scarce and desirable Rackham titles. “Rip Van Winkle of 1905 was a turning point in Rackham’s career because of its 51 color plates. Known previously as a black-and-white artist, Rackham with this book achieved preeminence as an illustrator working in the three-color process… Rackham’s Rip Van Winkle is among the most thoroughly illustrated of English books… His 50 illustrations, which are grouped at the end, come at a rate of one to every two or three sentences… presenting Rip’s story in the most ingenious and engaging detail” (Ray, 203-04). Expert repairs to text block, near-fine condition. Matisse’s Final Illustrated Book, 100 Pages Completely Illustrated, Lettered, And Decorated By Matisse, Signed By The Artist 107 MATISSE, Henri. Poèmes de Charles D’Orléans. Paris, 1950. Folio, original color lithographed wrappers by Matisse, glassine, custom clamshell box. $8200 Signed limited edition, one of only 1230 copies signed by Matisse, with 100 color lithographed pages completely designed, lettered, decorated, and illustrated by Matisse, including the frontispiece portrait. Matisse’s last illustrated book contains a profusion of ornaments and arabesques in a spectrum of pastel colors interspersed with portraits of ladies in court costume. Every element of the book proceeds directly from the artist’s hand. “In no other of Matisse’s books does one feel the same sense of the artist’s pleasure in his work as he plays here his subtle games with children’s crayons” (Barr, 272). “In September 1942 Matisse asked [friend and publisher André] Rouveyre to find him a collection of poems by Charles d’Orléans and, at the end of the year, he began to copy the poems out, framing them with colored crayons and sending them to Rouveyre” (Matisse: A Second Life, 128): the war made it difficult for Matisse to find a publisher, delaying the book’s appearance until 1950. Text in French. Without original slipcase. A fine copy in torn original glassine.
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