This is Arthur Rackham’s Book Of Pictures With An Introduction By Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, and it’s a first edition because it was published in London by William Heinemann in 1913, with no additional printings stated on the title or copyright page. 

The book has gilt lettering and a gilt cat on the spine, gilt lettering and a gilt bird on the front cover, all from the mind of Arthur Rackham. The front blank endpapers have a space drawn by Rackham that allows a person to put his or her name into the space to show ownership of the book, similar to a bookplate, followed by the half-title, a list of books illustrated by Rackham, a mounted frontispiece by Rackham with a tissue guard captioned in red letters, then the title page and a copyright page, a list of Pictures that run from page 7 to page 15 (the list is organized in six categories including I. Of The Little People, II. Classic, III. Some Fairy Tales, such as Jack the Giant Killer, Puss in Boots, and The Frog Prince, IV. Some Children, V. Grotesque, and VI. Various), then a long Introduction by Arthur Quiller-Couch, followed by forty-three beautiful mounted plates with the captioned tissue guards, blank endpapers at the rear, a gray top stain done by the publisher, and all forty-four plates and tissue guards are present. 

J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, was originally approached to write the Introduction, but he couldn’t because he had a scheduling problem, so he turned down the offer and Quiller-Couch wrote the Introduction instead. (Quiller-Couch was a British writer who gave the world Horace Rumpole, the fictional character often seen on PBS, and Quiller-Couch is remembered most for his The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250 - 1900.)

The book measures 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches wide and is in very good condition. It is clean and tight, with bright gilt on the covers, just light bumps at the heel and crown, faint wear at two tips, a couple of brown spots on the tissue guards in back, and faint brown spots on the rear endpapers. A very handsome copy of this book by Rackham. Unfortunately it is not signed by the author. 

Size: 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. 

#5458