Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations in Full Color

Another great Rackham book that adds to my already extensive Rackham collection.

If any artist could be said to have placed his definitive stamp on Fairyland, it would be Arthur Rackham. The large-format, full color (or "colour," if you prefer) reproductions of Rackham's illustrations for Grimms' Fairy Tales far outshine the low-resolution, black & white reproductions in many editions of the tales. Rackham wasn't only an artist -- he was a magician!

This thin volume is filled with some of the most enchanting drawings and paintings ever to grace childrens' books. There is an element of style in Rackham's work that reminds me in many ways of Japanese woodblock prints of the 19th century. And like a quality Japanese woodblock print, a Rackham plate is a feast for the eye.Fairy tale subjects can range the fair to the hideous. Often illustrators are biased towards one end of the spectrum. Rackham is one of those talented artists that can simultaneously capture the beauty of a fair maiden and the brutishness of a foul giant in one composition. I especially like the vitality of his figures and the whimsical and often grotesque facial expressions of his fairies and giants. I would recommend this volume to anyone who is fond of fairy tales and fine illustration.

I was not happy with the selection of images but the book is not bad overall.

I heartily concur with the estimations of Rackham's value to the area of children's book illustrations. Look for Rackham's Mother Goose and Alice in Wonderland from Chancellor Press to introduce your little ones to his illustrations is book form, as well as Favorite Tales From Grimm. But my desire here is to point out the true color found in this collection of Rackham's illustrations. Beware, as some books republished with his pictures do not capture the subtlety of his use of color. He used dark colors and gently colored objects in all of his pictures. This book, along with Dover's other Rackham collections show his work in all its glory, the subtle and the grotesque simultaneously. A delight for any collector of Rackham, suitable for framing.

Received item and got confused at the beginning because the cover was not the same as the displayed one. I compared the tables of contents and they matched.After that the illustrations didn't disappoint me. Just that would get my 5 stars.

The media could not be loaded.  I was disappointed because the reviews were so good. The video actually makes the images look more crisp than they are in real life 😳

I am an illustrator and the images in this book remind me of the ones that shaped my interest in art when I was a child.I bought all three of them offered and find each one to be wonderful. Even my grand daughter refused to talk to meas she examined the book.

I discovered Arthur Rackham's wonderful illustrations about 4 years ago, thanks largely to the book on him by James Hamilton.From the late 1890s until his death in 1939 he illustrated many classics-the Brothers Grimm, Alice in Wonderland,English Fairy Tales, Irish Fairy Tales, The Wind in the Willows,3 different versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream,even Wagner's Ring Cycle. You won't find Ratty or Toad or Shakespeare or the Valkyries in this particular volume but you will find many of the things Rackham is famous for: gnarled and angry dwarfs, terrifying witches, the Sleeping Beauty in her finery, also dark, twisted trees in dark landscapes.If, like me, your appetite for Rackham has been whetted, this book is for you.If you don't know his work, but simply like fairy stories,this is also a good buy.There's virtually no text-just the title of each illustration and the title of the book it originally appeared in.No analyses, no biography-for that, there's James Hamilton's excellent book.

nice book

beautiful postcards which I have framed in stunning snow white mirror style frames. saved some for cards for friends too. definitely worth buying

I ordered this by mistake, and intended to sent it back. However the illustrations are so wonderful that I have kept it.

Nice book.