This book is titled Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving and was illustrated by Arthur Rackham and published by Willam Heinemann in London in 1917 and by Doubleday Page in New York the same year. It has 24 color plates by Rackham, 7 black and white illustrations, and numerous cameo illustrations in black and white by Rackham. (Cameos are illustrations not listed in the book.)

The book was originally written by Washington Irving in 1819 and tells the tale of a Dutch villager in the Catskill mountains of New York who drinks too much liquor and falls asleep, only to discover he’s slept for twenty years and has awaken in a very changed world. Arthur Rackham illustrated this folklore tale, and his illustrations the story alive. 

The book is 3/4 bound, with four raised bands and gilt lettering on the spine, marbled boards, blank endpapers, a half-title with the owner’s name at the top, then a list of books illustrated by Rackham - Arthur Rackham’s Illustrations - followed by a colored frontis and the title page, the copyright page, a two-page list of illustrations, 36 pages of text, and a page at the end says the book was printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay and Sons of Brunswick Street, Stamford Street, and Bungay Suffolk. All the colored plates are protected by a tissue guard with red captions for the title of the plate, and the book is not signed by him.

The book also comes with a catalogue list laid in at the rear. The catalogue (# 29) is by Justin Schiller for Children’s Children’s Books From Four Centuries and includes two pages of book titles illustrated by Arthur Rackham. 

The book is in very good condition. It measures 10 x 7 3/8 inches wide and is tight, the plates and black-and-white illustrations are very clean, and there is light rubbing along the edges of the spine, wisps of rubbing at the tips, faint brown spots on the endpapers, brown spots on the half-title page, and occasional brown spots in the text. 

If the book were signed, it would be worth much more. 

Size: 10 x 7 3/8 in. 

#5457