The Vicar of Wakefield (Signed Limited Edition)

[Rackham, Arthur] Goldsmith, Oliver

Published by David McKay Company, Philadelphia, 1929

About this Item

Deluxe issue, limited to 775 copies (575 for England and 200 for the United States) signed by Arthur Rackham, this being copy no. 94 of the American issue. Publisher's white vellum, front cover ruled and lettered in gilt, spine decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt, others uncut. A few text leaves poorly opened, some scattered foxing, bookplate on front paste-down. Quarto (10 5/16 x 7 3/4 in; 263 x 197 mm). 231, [1] pp. Twelve full page color plates, twenty-two black and white line drawings. A very good copy, housed in a green cloth slipcase. Reportedly published as a means for thwarting debt, The Vicar of Wakefield became one of the most popular novels of the late 18th century. Mixing irony with sentimentalism, it paints a portrait of village life "narrated by Dr. Primrose, the title character, whose family endured multiple trials -- including the loss of their fortune, the seduction of a daughter, the destruction of their home by fire, and the vicar's incarceration -- before all is put right at the end" (Britannica). Goldsmith was a noted Irish wit and a member of Samuel Johnson s famed literary club, who Johnson praised as: "In genius, vivid, versatile, sublime. In style, clear, elevated, elegant." The legend of the book s publication is that Goldsmith was about to be arrested by his landlady for debt, when Johnson was able to sell the manuscript of the novel to a publisher for sixty pounds, saving his friend in the nick of time. For this illustrated edition, Rackham embraced historical costume and his traditional whimsy, despite the more fashionable Jazz-Age and Art Deco style predominant at the time (Husdon). Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) is perhaps the most acclaimed and influential illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration. A prolific artist even from his youth, Rackham got his start as an illustrator working for the Westminster Budget Newspaper (1892). Over the next few years, he took on more and more commissions for children s books, hitting his career high in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rackham turned his imaginative pen to every classic from Shakespeare to Dickens to Poe. Latimore and Haskell 65. Riall 170. Seller Inventory # 3709

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Vicar of Wakefield (Signed Limited ...

Publisher: David McKay Company, Philadelphia

Publication Date: 1929

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First American edition.