Arthur Rackham Books

This is a really neat book. It is a complete collection of Poe's short stories. The book is illustrated with very creepy color & black/white artwork of Arthur Rackham. If a person wanted to destroy the book by removing the illustrated pages, they are suitable for framing. There is no print on the reverse side, so the text would actually still be complete but the thrill of looking at the art would be gone.

Walter Starkie (1894-1976) was an Irish scholar. He was conversant in several languages and also a proficient violinist. He might have remained comfortable in Ireland as a university lecturer, save that he had a passion for wandering. Against the wishes of his family, Starkie left his home in 1929 and went to Central Europe for several months to wander among Gypsies. The 35-year-old Starkie was armed only with his wits, a backpack, and a decent violin. As he traveled alone and often by foot, he met many helpful locals along the way who would cheerfully put him up for a night. He supported himself mostly by fiddling. Starkie wandered from the Hungarian Puszta (Great Plain) into the distant forests of Transylvania, becoming acquainted with lots of interesting people: friendly villagers, exotic Gypsy fiddlers, traveling circus performers, and the occasional landed nobility. A gifted writer, Starkie provides a wondeful description of these people in their element. He partook in their Gypsy music, wine, and inevitable evening revelries. Being just another 'vagabond fiddler' as he called himself, Starkie easily made friends and was rarely, if ever, in danger. It is heartbreaking to ponder how many people that Starkie befriended were not long after murdered in the Holocaust or otherwise killed or displaced by war. The fascinating world that Starkie describes for us is truly gone.

Cute book to add to my table of Christmas Stories. Will make a cute addition this Christmas.

I ordered 30 copies of this Dover Thrift Edition of A Christmas Carol and used them as stocking stuffers at work.

This is a great item for the price, lower than some greeting cards, and I suspect appreciated a tad more than the usual overflow of candy around at holiday time!

Everyone has their favorite version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Make this dramatic retelling yours. At about 2 hours, its perfect for listening in the car while running around during the holidays or on your MP3 player while putting up Christmas lights. I plan on listening to it every year from now on. Patrick Stewart gives voice to every character, including the narration, and gives the kind of performance which I have come to expect from an actor of his immense talents.

I saw this script produced at the Castle Museum in York during its first run. It's the most faithful adaptation I have ever seen of A Christmas Carol, which is one of my favourite novels.

Highly recommended.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMER i HAVE EVER HEARD. MR. STEWART BRINGS TO LIFE THE COMPLETE STORY. MAKING THE STORY MR. DICKENS INTENDED GO RIGHT TO YOUR SOUL.
I HAVE PUT IT ON THE LIST OF THINGS WE ARE DOING FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY, THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AND TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO THIS GREAT STORY.
YOU WILL NOT BE UNHAPPY WHEN YOU BUY THIS CD.
THE HALLEY FAMILY

We actually chose this book for our summer book club. It is really different reading it as an adult and for yourself. It was great fun!
It is amazing how you can see yourself in most of the characters. Do you know people who you see in the different animals?
We had a wonderful discussion.

Before you order, note that the Signet Classics paperback version is quite small (about 4" x 6.5") with small font and small drawings. Nice for traveling light, I suppose, but I wish that, instead, I'd purchased a more attractive and easier to read-aloud version to share with my kids.

While Grahame's The Wind in the Willows may have been written for children, it mimics and speaks to adults, as well. The characters in his "low fantasy" story, though animal in name, physical description, and dwelling habitats, portray many of the same foibles and flaws as those represented by human beings.
Mr. Toad, for example, is not only wealthy and pretentious, but spoiled, haughty, self-serving, and thoughtless. He takes his truest friends for granted, and things nothing of thievery or dealing underhandedly to accomplish his selfish wants. For toad, Mr. Toad, like some people we encounter, has no real material needs, but has wants that seldom satisfy him for more than a moment.
Mr. Toad's friends, Old Badger, Water Rat, and Mole also have personalities that mirror that of adult humans. Perhaps Grahame intended to reach children at an age when they are teachable and impress upon them manners and sensibilities that will guide their interpersonal relationships as they grow.
Though the poetically beautiful settings of the story are present in the "real world," the magical occurrences of motorcar-driving frogs, gondola-sailing rats, and suit-wearing badgers, make this fantastical story entertaining, particular for children, who possess a vivid imagination that is oftentimes stifled by everyday pressures in the world of grown-ups.
Both children and adults can identify with the personalities of Grahame's imaginary characters, and there are age-old lessons taught in this story that are often present in mythology and even Biblical teachings. There is even a God-like character in the book, called The Piper, who brings the seasons and protects the animals.
The morals taught in the story are satisfying, in that, in the end, Mr. Toad is a changed man, er, frog, in that he has learned to appreciate the value of true friendship accept his good fortune with humility. Through his animal characters, Grahame represents the bad in human nature made good, while entertaining us with comedic situations that--if they didn't involve such fantastical creatures--could be considered realistic.

This is a delightful book, readable well into adulthood. Mr. Toad is particularly entertaining, but so are the wise and tolerant Badger and the adventure loving Mole and Rat. A fully realized world that even makes reference to the classics. Good prevails in the final battle, and the animals are restored to their peaceable kingdom. A wonderful book to read and reread.

This has to be my all time favorite DVD far better than other productions of this I have viewed. Absolutely delightful to watch for people of all ages - it's a keeper that you can watch over and again!

Puck of Pook's Hill is Rudyard Kipling's attempt to convey British history in a unique way--as a kind of fantasy told to two small children. The children, Dan and Una, participate in a performance of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and then come across an elf (Puck) who claims to be from a nearby hill (Pook's Hill). Over a series of nine chapters characters appear from British history to relate stories of their experiences to the children. The children, of course are in awe and wonder at these tales. Each chapter also begins and ends with a song.

The first series of chapters deals with the adventures of Sir Richard Dalyngridge who came to England with William the Conquerer. In this story we also meet the heroic Saxon Hugh and De Aquilla the Norman warlord. Sir Richard and Hugh go on grand adventures involving being caputred by pirates and get a large quantity of gold. It is the stuff of Peter Pan and such fantasy adventures.

The second story returns to Roman times and here we meet Parnesius, a Roman centurion and other figures from that time. The story involves fighting between the Romans and a group called the "Winged Hats," as well as the internal intrigues within the Roman ranks.

While several other stories provide information on different aspects of British history, these two stories form the main part of the book.

It is hard to rate this book as it will have a strong appeal for some people--children interested in fantasy and history and adults with an interest in Great Britain. For others it may not be very interesting.

Most of this book is worth reading as fantasy fiction, and all of it is worth studying as an example of late Victorian attitudes. Kipling didn't handle the transitions between "fantasy" and "reality" as well as modern writers who specialize in this sort of thing, but he did pretty well. However ... every time I read this to enjoy the adventures of Dan and Una, I trip up on the character of the medieval Jew who has an inborn, racial "talent for gold." While I don't usually think books should be updated or abridged for modern readers, I would consider excising just a few sentences of this one before letting a child read it.

I recall the comments of a Chinese-American reader who discovered that the beloved Louisa May Alcott used some demeaning stereotypes of Chinese people: Suddenly, one is cast out of the category of "reader" into the category of "other," and one never quite comes back.

Marvellous!

In a word, that's my feeling about Puck of Pook's Hill (Dover Value Editions). I'll get into the actual story in just a moment but I first wanted to make some general observations about this terrific work of fantasy.

Kipling harbored a kid's imagination for fantasy stories and a sociology professor's knowledge of history, especially concerning 19th Century England and its colonies. Kipling lived from 1865-1936 and, of course, he generated a plethora of superb period literature including The Jungle Books (Oxford World's Classics), The Man Who Would Be King (Dodo Press), and Kim. The thread so common to the bulk of Kipling's work seems to be ADVENTURE, a theme in which he excelled beyond most other authors, either then or now.

In "Puck" he achieved a level of historical imperative and nostalgic fantasy that was only ever paralleled by Lewis Carroll and J.R.R. Tolkien. This book is (for reasons unknown to me) a real sleeper -- you don't hear much about it either in academia or in bookstores, which is a tremendous shame given its refreshing effervescence and rainy-day appeal. I feel compelled to say that it would be infinitely helpful in digesting "Puck" if you're already somewhat tutored in the history of England and, if you're accustomed to reading the vernacular of other works of Kipling's era. I luckily have the 1987 Penguin softcover edition of this book (Goodwill Store, 50 cents) which is heavily footnoted and which also includes a lengthy, informative introduction to the book written by Sarah Wintle. There even a nice little "Map of the Weald" (Kipling's Sussex) which provides added perspective.

The ten "stories" from this book first appeared in "The Strand" in 1906 which were then illustrated by Claude A. Shepperson. Additionally, some of these entries were published in "Ladies Home Journal" and in "McClure's Magazine". The lion's share of the book is prose but most stories either begin or end with a poem such as "The Runes on Weyland's Sword," a title which reveals much of the flavour of the overall work.

THE STORY: On Midsummer Eve in a secluded meadow just below "Pook's Hill," a boy and his sister (Dan and Una, respectively) acted out their children's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," coincidentally, inside a fairy ring (of mushrooms). Such an act on the part of these two kids was surely bound to give rise to something very magical (although they never anticipated this possibility) and, in fact, it did. Shortly after their little theater, Puck appeared to them!

Puck is enigmatic, for human adults at least. While he's referred to at one point as a "faun," he seems to be part Leprechaun, part fairy, and part sorcerer. He purposefully engages in shrewd indirect speech which he knows will give rise to endless questions from Dan and Una, thus allowing him to spin his yarns and to bring forth historic figures of The Weald, one after another, over a period of days. He's also capable of conjuring a little spell which has the net effect of eliminating his actuality from the minds of the children after each day's storytelling.

Puck brings on a Roman Centurion (who guarded England), a Norman Knight, a Renaissance artisan, Saxons, Picts, Norsemen (Vikings), a Chinese slave-master and many others, each of whom imparts his respective piece of England's history. There's even a dark adventure tale about a maritime journey along the African coast in search of gold where, of course, devilish monsters were encountered and a horrific battle ensued. Dan and Una are shrewdly drawn into each of these sojourns by Puck as if they had themselves been there.

In summary, if you have so far missed this most excellent proto-Hobbitish legend of ancient England and beyond, my personal opinion is that you cannot order this book fast enough. I give it my highest recommendation, especially for fans of either Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics) or The Lord of the Rings. 3 Vol. Set.

I will not recommend this book to people who are not familiar with English history. I found myself stopping in the middle to research the characters because you cannot truly appreciate the book otherwise. This took away from the book's appeal. Someone who doesn't have an idea of who the characters are and what role they played during the period will undoubtedly be completely lost, because you cannot really glean all this from the book alone. Otherwise the book was well written, as Kipling always is. It is, however not a book everyone would enjoy.

It seems to be fashionable, in this politically correct time, to find fault with Rudyard Kipling. But Kipling was a great writer with big ideas and a big heart. He wrote "Puck of Pook's Hill" and "Rewards and Fairies" to share his love of his mother country with young readers. These books are a great introduction to English history. I find it hard to imagine a reader not falling in love with the land and people of this great country after reading "Puck of Pook's Hill". The curious reader will seek out more information on what happened during their favorite characters' times, possibly leading to a lifelong love of history and the inclination to explore the world through reading.

I just started collecting fairy tale art like Dulac and Rackham. This book is a magnificent addition to my collection. The illustrations jump right out of the pages to tell the story. Both beauty and darkness are exquisite in this assembly of work. I now want to read the book. I also love lighter fairy tale art such as that of Nielson, but this darker approach to visually telling the tale is effective and wonderful.

I'm swiftly becoming enamored of the old-time illustrators - Joseph Clement Coll, Charles Dana Gibson, N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and Alphonse Mucha to name but a few. I'm now happy to add Arthur Rackham to that list. As both a fan of illustration (fantasy, comic book, and otherwise), as well as a bit of a mythology buff, I was thrilled to see that Dover (whose name, in my opinion, always spells quality) had produced a volume of Rackham's illustrations of Wagner's Ring Cycle, which is itself based on a famed tale of Norse mythology. The illustrations, as the book notes, were first published in 1910 and 1911, respectively. They are uniformly beautiful, bringing the story to vibrant life. Rackham was clearly a skilled draftsman, and his work has that turn-of-the-century look that is very compelling (Gibson and Wyeth had a similar style).

This book is printed on high-quality glossy paper and features wonderful illustrations of dwarves, heroes, valkyrie, gods, and others that Rackham captures with skill and aplomb. Each drawing is accompanied by a discription, helping to tie the illustrations together and explain the plot to those who might not be familiar with it.While the volume is quite slim (only 64 pages, plus 4 of introductor/background material) it is very much worthwhile. I hope you will pick it up and enjoy it.

Arthur Rackham is among the greatest illustrators of what has come to be called 'fantasy' literature. His renderings of scenes from Dickens, Barrie, Grahame, and even Shakespeare are often flawless and many have ultimately proved definitive.

Here he tackles the daunting scope of Richard Wagner's vast operatic cycle DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, and he is so successful that his images have become the model for most of its traditional stage design ever since they were exhibited in 1912 at the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. Yet Rackham achieves more than merely the giving of face and form to Wagner's characters and scenes. These illustrations capture a sense of space and height, light and darkness, beauty and tragedy, promise and doom which may be described as music to the eyes. C.S. Lewis first beheld them as a boy and later wrote, 'Pure "Northerness" engulfed me: a vision of huge, clear spaces hanging above the Atlantic in the endless twilight of Northern summer, remoteness, severity ...'

For me, the most evocative image in this collection is from DIE WALKURE, Act II. In the foreground we see Brunnhilde anguishing over her orders from the just-departed Wotan. Helmet cast upon the ground, her face and posture effectively communicate distress and isolation; yet most remarkable is how Rackham echoes the Valkyrie's state of mind in the landscape beyond her. The falling hillside; the stark, scraggly saplings scattered into the distance; the shadowy silhouette of other mountains marking the far horizon; the low-hanging clouds; and the muted shades of grey, gold, and brown all convey an overwhelming sense of loneliness as cold and haunted as it is beautiful.

This book is a delight for anybody who loves Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ("The Nibelung's Ring") operatic tetralogy. While I could have wished for just a little more detail in the captions - which could therefore have allowed the entire story of this cycle to be told (a few things consequently get missed - not really major, but wouldn't have hurt nevertheless!) - they are otherwise excellent; and the paintings themselves are not only outstanding art-pieces in themselves - they also are excellent visualisations of what Wagner was trying to do! They're also a wonderful corrective to the all-too-many "modernisations" that for some people like myself are hurting the visual aspect of a given opera's appreciation. [Often those "modernisations" are in bad taste, travesties of the composers' and librettists' intentions, and are either boring, shocking for mere shock value, or just plain BAD!!!!!]

Most warmly recommended for both confirmed Rackham lovers as well as Wagner lovers AND for those who're just getting started with the process of getting to know Wagner's stupendous cycle!!! GET IT!!!!

All 64 Rackham's images for Wagner's Ring collected in one book is a grate thing to have if a Rackham lover. Reproduction of the images is not the best possible though. All in all, it is still a good book to have. Rackham is magical.

This is where the story of Peter Pan starts and it is a wonderful one at that. Maybe not as adventurous as the better known story of Peter Pan and maybe not really as focused as some may wish. It has a weird, twisted logic to it, as it darts and flies about. But that makes it all the more wonderful and magical. The drawings by Arthur Rackham add to the feelings of a story set in a world long ago and far away.

This book continues the adventures of Peter Pan and is a very enjoyable read.

Even though I do think that this is a great book , it is only half of an even greater. For those of you who don't know this book was just the middle few chapters of one of JM Barrie's books entitled "The Little White Bird". I would encourage people to buy that version instead of this because it includes the same text and more detailing story of a young boy quite in the same way like Peter Pan.

I would not recommend buying this book if you expect fabulous color plate images of Arthur Rackham (like I did); the images are all poorly scanned black and white (some of which are upside down in my copy) and do not do him justice. However, if you plan on reading this for the story and don't care about illustration quality, I would highly recommend this book.

The Sweet Adventures of Baby Peter Pan - A Review by Tinkerbell III

"Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens" is J.M. Barrie's original Pan prequel, and no matter how many more come along, this is Peter's only official backstory. Peter Pan (who is a much sweeter character in this book) is not limited in his play, even though he is only seven days old! His adventures begin when he runs away from home and finds himself in the middle of London's Kensington Gardens. There he meets Solomon Caw, a wise old crow, who reminds Peter that he was once a bird and teaches him of the bird ways. Oddly enough, Peter cannot fly in this book, even with his bird ancestry, so he navigates the Gardens by boat on the Serpentine River. Eventually, the fairies bestow him with the temporary gift of flight, and baby Peter flies home for the doomed meeting with his mother.
The fact that these chapters were originally published in a different novel causes this book to lack a solid plot. It is just several individual chapters about Peter's adventures. There are many sequences that have nothing to do with Peter at all - the whole first chapter is a helpful tour of Kensington Gardens, and there are several interesting segments explaining the ways of the fairies. Chapter 5 is all about Maimie Mannering, the little girl Peter meets in the Gardens. There are also a few parts that intersect with the future "Peter Pan" - Peter's explanation of the birth of fairies, for instance, the visit with his mother, and his misunderstanding of kisses. As for the illustrations, they are by Arthur Rackham and would be beautiful, but in my particular edition they have been printed so dark they are almost impossible to see. I think "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens" is a great read for Peter Pan fans, and an absolutely excellent bedtime story for children.
By the way, I also recommend "The Little White Bird" in which these chapters were first published. It was witty and sarcastic and touching.

P.S. Check out the other Peter Pan-related reviews by Tinkerbell III!

I heartily concur with all the other reviews as far as the necessity of exposing children to Rackham's illustrations as soon as possible. Hopefully this would happen in part through his books, like his Aesop's Fables, Favorite Tales From Grimm, Alice and Wonderland, etc. So my purpose is more practical: to say that the two Dover collections of his pictures, this and Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations are very true to Rackham's original color illustrations. I have seen reproductions of some of his illustrations that make his colors seem muddy. He uses a lot of dark colors in his work, but he also used many subtle light colors which have been captured well here. A great value for the money, along with the Fairy Tale book. All the pictures are suitable for framing.

I was introduced to Arthur Rackham's magical illustrations as a child via the old St. Nicholas children's magazines, and his pictures have lost none of their magic in the ensuing years. Rackham's pen-and-ink drawings are complemented by a muted palette of colors that transform the glossy pages into insubstantial doors that open into an enchanted world populated by slender butterfly-winged fairies, multitudes of elves and gnomes, and twisted anthropomorphic trees that capture a child's imagination, without being threatening. At the same time, the sharp angular faces of the children in his drawings suggest a subtle mischievous humor that prevents Rackham's illustrations from ever sinking into sentimentality.

Rackham's pen covered a wide range of subjects, from Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Tempest" by way of Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows", Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," and classical fairy tales, to Wagner's "Ring of the Niebelungen."

We are so lucky to have these beautifully reproduced Dover illustrations in a single book. They should be introduced to one's grandchildren so that their own imaginations may also take flight with the enchanting creatures of Arthur Rackham's world.

As a child I was thrilled with Arthur Rackham's illustrations and I haven't lost my love for his work. They're timeless. He combines the real world with magical kingdoms, the almost-grotesque creatures with the unusually beautiful, the fairy creatures with the mortals, humor with terror. Rackham paints beautiful landscapes and beautiful people, yet we know to beware of the creatures who may lurk under the gnarly tree roots. His colors are subdued, but rich; and his detail is gracefully executed.

His illustrations have been and still are an inspiration to artists who wish to delve into an imaginative realm. And for those who wish to delve in themselves, I highly recommend this excellent book. Thanks to Arthur Rackham, the fairy world is alive and well, and shall remain so.

Denise Hillman Moynahan
The Great Cavern of the Winds: Tales from Backbone Mountain

As advertised. This is a Dover book, so it includes no scholarly apparatus to speak of. Still, the printing is good, and it includes a nice collection of prints that I hadn't seen. Shipping was timely.

I love this book! I found that the introduction was helpful in placing each piece of art in context. The works themselves are gorgeous and enchanting. The book really shows the breadth of talent and subject matter Rackham mastered, as well as his superb use of composition and imagination. An excellent book for any collection, for children and adults alike.

I have been studying Arthur Rackham and trying to emulate his style. Sometimes certain things are so hard to draw, you just can't seem to do it. However, if you can trace over something several times and then try to draw it, it is easier. So I have used this book to tighten my "Rackham" chops. Also my kids and granddaughter never heard of him and it gives me a chance to share my childhood memories with them.

I decided to revisit my childhood recently, and ordered a stack of coloring books. The Rackham is by far the prettiest of the lot. You can attempt to emulate Rackham's earthy palette, or you can go wild and use every bright color in the box. Either way, you'll have a wonderful time coloring these complex, sinuous, lovely illustrations. And the fairytales are a bonus. Something for when you're sick in bed, or just feeling down and looking for a bit of comfort.

What a great idea - fairy tales with really detailed, gorgeous illustrations to be colored in. This is sure to give hours and hours of fun quiet time!

One of the most respected artists of the last century, Arthur Rackham brought some of the best loved children's stories to life with his beautiful illustrations. Here, some of Rackham's illustrations for 17 of the Grimm's stories are presented in a colouring book format, and while it would make a wonderful gift for a child, it also makes for a great collector's item for the art connoisseur and fan of Rackham's work. I bought two copies - one to colour, and one to keep as a collector's item! Ed Sibbett, Jr. rendered the 30 colourable illustrations based on Rackham's originals, and each one compliments James Spero's adapted text of 17 of the Grimm's tales. Included in the 64 pages are the classics "Hansel and Gretel", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", "Rapunzel", and more. At Amazon's price, there's definitely value for money in this book.

I have always been a tremendous fan of Alice in Wonderland, but I wasn't too fond of Tenniel's artwork. Plus, the books I had found hadn't printed the illustrations very well (they were always dark and smudged). Then I found this edition of Lewis Carroll's classic, and I was extremely pleased! Rackham's artwork left me speechless. I adored the simple pen-and-ink illustrations to the full-page paintings. This is a splendid book to own if you enjoy the original story and want new illustrations to admire.

Alice in Wonderland is a great book that I truly enjoyed. I like how the author made something symbolize something else. For example, the rules of the game they were playing symbolized the actual rules of the land. Even though this book is intended for kids to read but I say it is a book for all ages.