Undine. Adapted from the German by W. L. Courtney.

First Rackham edition, deluxe issue, number 495 of 1,000 copies signed by the illustrator. This publication "was still another step forward for Rackham, the unity of conception in the line drawings and the colour plates, and the assertion of contrast in the moods of the heroine, rendered it a masterpiece of sympathetic understanding" (Hudson, p. 80). The fairy tale of Undine, a water spirit who marries a human knight to acquire an immortal soul, was first published in German in 1811. The Manchester Guardian stated that Rackham's "illustrated edition of Undine. may be praised: the drawings are as good as those for Rip van Winkle or Peter Pan. The pictures of the knight in the enchanted wood and of the little Undine coming up dripping into the fisherman's cottage are excellent examples of Mr Rackham's well-known manner". Latimore & Haskell, pp. 34-5; Riall, pp. 93-4. Derek Hudson, Arthur Rackham, His Life and Work, 1975; Manchester Guardian, 20 November 1909, p. 6. Quarto (286 x 225 mm). Colour frontispiece and 14 colour plates each mounted on brown paper with captioned tissue guard, black and white drawings in the text, all by Rackham. Original front cover and spine at rear. Late 20th-century blue crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf, spine lettered in gilt, spine in compartments, grey endpapers, top edge gilt. Spine a little toned: a very good copy. …