A Christmas Carol.

DICKENS, Charles. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

Item Number: 132048

London: William Heinemann, 1915.

Signed limited edition of Rackham’s illustrated edition of Dickens’ classic Christmas tale. Quarto, original gilt-decorated full vellum, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 12 tipped-in color plates with lettered tissue guards in addition to numerous black-and-white illustrations throughout the text. One of 500 numbered copies for sale in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Colonies signed by illustrator Arthur Rackham, this is number 20. In near fine condition.

A Christmas Carol "may readily be called the Bible of Christmas. It was issued about ten days before Christmas, 1843, and 6000 copies were sold on the first day"(Eckel, 110). "It was a work written at the height of Dickens’ great powers, which would add to his considerable fame, bring a new work to the English language, increase the festivities at Christmastime, and contain his most eloquent protest at the condition of the poor" (John Mortimer). One of the leading literary figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration, Arthur Rackham's work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolor, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator. "Arthur Rackham’s fanciful imagination gave his illustrations instant recognition, and his dedication to illustration kept him in the public eye for 30 years" (Hodnett, 233).