A Wonder Book Illustrated and Signed by Arthur Rackham [Limited Edition]

Fine limited edtion signed and numbered in fountain pen by Arthur Rackham at limitation page: "This Edition is limited to 600 copies numbered and signed by the artist. This copy is number '592'. 'Arthur Rackham'". Beautiful gigantic 9 1/2" x 11 1/2" x 2" design weighing over five lbs. Cream colored buckram (full cloth) boards, gilt cover titles and detailed vignette design, gilt spine titles w/Hodder & Stoughton at heel, moderate shelf wear, rub, toning. Front cover depicts wily satyr in tree shaking the leaves while children look on below. Pictorial endpapers of young lad and lady approaching tree w/silhouette in foreground of mercury atop pedestal and young satyr-like being sitting upon foundation. Thick heavy stock deckled leaves, clean with attractive toning; no writing. Gilded top edge. Frontispiece mounted color plate w/captioned tissue guard: "Pandora and Epimetheus". Illustrated with fifteen more full-color mounted plates printed in rich hues. Fine captioned tissue guards present. Also, an additional eight full-page duo-chromatic illustrations, many resembling a Japanese influence, with captions greatly enchance this volume. Variously sized b&w decorative headers and tailpieces throughout. Bind fine; hinges intact. Very attractive near very good limited edtion of fine book craftsmanship. Presented here are a half dozen of the classical myths rendered into very essential reading for children. A great freedom of treatment was necessary rendering these legends into malleable forms remaining same or similar in their essence having existed for the past two or three millennia. But, by their indestructibility are legitimate subjects for every age to clothe with its own garnish of manners and sentiment, and imbue with its own morality. In these fables of Hawthorne, they assume a Gothic or romantic guise and meeting the comprehension of children. It is only the artificial and complex that bewilder them, while their imaginative senses rise deep and high for elemental of these legends. Contents include: The Gorgon's Head; The Golden Touch; The Paradise of Children; The Three Golden Apples; The Miraculous Pitcher; The Chimaera. Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. Constable Ltd. at the Edinburgh University Press. 207 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.…