1920 First Edition Signed Edition de Luxe; With Provenance
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
By C.S. Evans
KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Vellum, quarto (4to 9 1⁄2 × 12 in 241 × 305 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: William Heinemann, London & J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, USA, 1920
Language: English
Limited Edition: 218/625 Copies
Signed By: Signed by Illustrator
Illustrated By: Arthur Rackham
Provenance: From the library of Harold Charles "Harley" Drayton (1901–1966), financier and prominent British company chairman, with his engraved Ex Libris bookplate by Stanley Anderson. Drayton formed an important collection part...
Collation: 110, [2] pp.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued, No Jacket
SKU: BTETM0002342
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
DESCRIPTION
The Sleeping Beauty
No. 218 of 625 copies · Signed by Arthur Rackham · H. C. Drayton Provenance
A handsome copy of the signed Edition de Luxe of Arthur Rackham's The Sleeping Beauty, retold by C. S. Evans and published by William Heinemann in 1920. Printed on English handmade paper and limited to 625 numbered copies, 600 for sale, each signed by Rackham, this is No. 218. One hundred copies of the edition were reserved for the United States.
This deluxe issue includes the additional full-page colour silhouette not present in the ordinary trade edition, together with the mounted colour frontispiece and Rackham's extensive sequence of full-page, double-page and in-text silhouettes. The work belongs to the distinctive late phase of Rackham's career in which he exploited silhouette to remarkable effect, creating an unusually theatrical succession of figures, processions, fairies, courtiers and enchanted landscapes. The deluxe issue is bibliographically recorded by Latimore & Haskell and Riall.
The copy has particularly interesting provenance. It bears the engraved Ex Libris of H. C. Drayton, created by British engraver Stanley Anderson and depicting books together with fishing and sporting equipment. Harold Charles "Harley" Drayton (1901–1966) was a prominent financier and company chairman whose extensive library included important collections of Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, the City of London, trade and economics. Following his death, Sotheby's devoted a major March 1968 sale to this portion of his library. The present copy also retains the small bookseller's ticket of Hugh Rees Ltd., 5 & 7 Regent Street, London, providing a further trace of its earlier ownership history.
PROVENANCE
From the library of Harold Charles "Harley" Drayton (1901–1966), financier and prominent British company chairman, with his engraved Ex Libris bookplate by Stanley Anderson. Drayton formed an important collection particularly rich in Defoe, Swift, the City of London, trade and economics, a substantial portion of which was sold by Sotheby's in March 1968. Old Hugh Rees Ltd., 5 & 7 Regent Street, London bookseller's ticket to pastedown.
CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
Internally Very Good. Publisher's original deluxe quarter vellum over cream pictorial boards, front board decorated and lettered in gilt, spine lettered in gilt; top edge gilt, remaining edges untrimmed as issued. Illustrated endpapers printed in green.
Binding with age-toning, scattered spotting and surface marking to the pale boards and vellum, with rubbing and wear to edges and corners. Gilt decoration and lettering remain clear and attractive. Inner hinges remain attached, with localised cracking and weakness at the foot of one hinge, where a small area of the underlying binding structure is visible; the text block nevertheless remains together and substantially sound.
Contents generally clean and well preserved, printed on substantial English handmade paper. The pronounced irregularity of the fore and lower edges is the original untrimmed/deckled finish of the deluxe issue and not later damage. Occasional light age-toning and minor marks consistent with age. Old pencil bookseller/collector annotations to the front blank, together with an early 7/- price notation.
Limitation leaf present and clearly numbered 218, signed beneath in ink by Arthur Rackham.
With mounted colour frontispiece, numerous full-page and double-page silhouette illustrations, several printed with colour, and extensive silhouette decoration throughout the text. The additional full-page colour silhouette issued only with the Edition de Luxe is present.
H. C. Drayton's engraved Ex Libris by Stanley Anderson is mounted to the front free endpaper. This particular bookplate is not pencil-signed by Anderson and no artist's blindstamp is apparent; it should therefore be regarded as Drayton's original ownership bookplate rather than one of the separately signed proof impressions of the design known on the art market.
A pleasing and substantially complete example of one of Rackham's most distinctive signed limited editions, enhanced by notable twentieth-century bibliophile provenance.
Illustrations: Mounted colour frontispiece; numerous full-page, double-page and in-text silhouettes by Arthur Rackham, several with colour; including the additional colour illustration exclusive to the Edition de Luxe.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
REFERENCES
Latimore & Haskell, Arthur Rackham: A Bibliography, p. 51
Riall, A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham, p. 141
Christie's, various copies of the 1920 Edition de Luxe
Sotheby's, Catalogue of the Important Collection of Books by Defoe and Swift and of Books Relating to the City of London, Trade and Economics: The Property of the Late H. C. Drayton, 18–19 March 1968.
SYNOPSIS
The Sleeping Beauty belongs to one of Europe's oldest and most enduring fairy-tale traditions. Earlier forms of the story appear in the medieval Perceforest and in Giambattista Basile's seventeenth-century Pentamerone, while Charles Perrault's La Belle au bois dormant of 1697 and the Brothers Grimm's later Dornröschen established the versions most familiar today.
C. S. Evans's retelling follows the familiar story of the long-awaited Princess Briar-Rose, cursed by an excluded fairy to prick her finger on a spindle. Although the fatal curse is softened into a century-long sleep, the enchantment encompasses the princess and her entire household until the appointed prince penetrates the encircling thorn hedge and awakens her.
Evans expands the traditional narrative with additional courtly and magical detail, giving Rackham unusual freedom to populate the story with fairies, courtiers, servants, musicians, animals and grotesque figures. The result is one of Rackham's most distinctive later illustrated books, relying heavily upon silhouettes and carefully controlled touches of colour rather than the large watercolour plates that characterised much of his earlier work.
AUTHOR BIO
Charles Seddon Evans (1883–1944) was a British publisher and writer. Educated at East London College, he began his career as a schoolmaster before joining Edward Arnold as educational editor and subsequently William Heinemann, where he spent the remainder of his professional life, eventually becoming chairman and managing director.
Evans wrote The Sleeping Beauty as a companion to his earlier Cinderella, likewise illustrated by Arthur Rackham. His retelling expands the traditional fairy tale while drawing particularly upon the Perrault and Brothers Grimm traditions, providing Rackham with ample opportunity for both narrative illustration and decorative silhouette work.
ILLUSTRATOR
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham RWS (1867–1939) was one of the pre-eminent illustrators of the Golden Age of British book illustration. His distinctive combination of fluid pen-and-ink drawing, watercolour and fantastic imagery established an immediately recognisable style and made him one of the most commercially successful book artists of his generation.
Rackham illustrated many of the major literary and fairy-tale classics of the period, including Rip Van Winkle, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and The Wind in the Willows. By the time of Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty, he had developed a striking silhouette technique which allowed gesture, profile and movement to carry much of the narrative.
1920 First Edition Signed Edition de Luxe; With Provenance
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
By C.S. Evans
KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Vellum, quarto (4to 9 1⁄2 × 12 in 241 × 305 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: William Heinemann, London & J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, USA, 1920
Language: English
Limited Edition: 218/625 Copies
Signed By: Signed by Illustrator
Illustrated By: Arthur Rackham
Provenance: From the library of Harold Charles "Harley" Drayton (1901–1966), financier and prominent British company chairman, with his engraved Ex Libris bookplate by Stanley Anderson. Drayton formed an important collection part...
Collation: 110, [2] pp.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued, No Jacket
SKU: BTETM0002342
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
DESCRIPTION
The Sleeping Beauty
No. 218 of 625 copies · Signed by Arthur Rackham · H. C. Drayton Provenance
A handsome copy of the signed Edition de Luxe of Arthur Rackham's The Sleeping Beauty, retold by C. S. Evans and published by William Heinemann in 1920. Printed on English handmade paper and limited to 625 numbered copies, 600 for sale, each signed by Rackham, this is No. 218. One hundred copies of the edition were reserved for the United States.
This deluxe issue includes the additional full-page colour silhouette not present in the ordinary trade edition, together with the mounted colour frontispiece and Rackham's extensive sequence of full-page, double-page and in-text silhouettes. The work belongs to the distinctive late phase of Rackham's career in which he exploited silhouette to remarkable effect, creating an unusually theatrical succession of figures, processions, fairies, courtiers and enchanted landscapes. The deluxe issue is bibliographically recorded by Latimore & Haskell and Riall.
The copy has particularly interesting provenance. It bears the engraved Ex Libris of H. C. Drayton, created by British engraver Stanley Anderson and depicting books together with fishing and sporting equipment. Harold Charles "Harley" Drayton (1901–1966) was a prominent financier and company chairman whose extensive library included important collections of Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, the City of London, trade and economics. Following his death, Sotheby's devoted a major March 1968 sale to this portion of his library. The present copy also retains the small bookseller's ticket of Hugh Rees Ltd., 5 & 7 Regent Street, London, providing a further trace of its earlier ownership history.
PROVENANCE
From the library of Harold Charles "Harley" Drayton (1901–1966), financier and prominent British company chairman, with his engraved Ex Libris bookplate by Stanley Anderson. Drayton formed an important collection particularly rich in Defoe, Swift, the City of London, trade and economics, a substantial portion of which was sold by Sotheby's in March 1968. Old Hugh Rees Ltd., 5 & 7 Regent Street, London bookseller's ticket to pastedown.
CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
Internally Very Good. Publisher's original deluxe quarter vellum over cream pictorial boards, front board decorated and lettered in gilt, spine lettered in gilt; top edge gilt, remaining edges untrimmed as issued. Illustrated endpapers printed in green.
Binding with age-toning, scattered spotting and surface marking to the pale boards and vellum, with rubbing and wear to edges and corners. Gilt decoration and lettering remain clear and attractive. Inner hinges remain attached, with localised cracking and weakness at the foot of one hinge, where a small area of the underlying binding structure is visible; the text block nevertheless remains together and substantially sound.
Contents generally clean and well preserved, printed on substantial English handmade paper. The pronounced irregularity of the fore and lower edges is the original untrimmed/deckled finish of the deluxe issue and not later damage. Occasional light age-toning and minor marks consistent with age. Old pencil bookseller/collector annotations to the front blank, together with an early 7/- price notation.
Limitation leaf present and clearly numbered 218, signed beneath in ink by Arthur Rackham.
With mounted colour frontispiece, numerous full-page and double-page silhouette illustrations, several printed with colour, and extensive silhouette decoration throughout the text. The additional full-page colour silhouette issued only with the Edition de Luxe is present.
H. C. Drayton's engraved Ex Libris by Stanley Anderson is mounted to the front free endpaper. This particular bookplate is not pencil-signed by Anderson and no artist's blindstamp is apparent; it should therefore be regarded as Drayton's original ownership bookplate rather than one of the separately signed proof impressions of the design known on the art market.
A pleasing and substantially complete example of one of Rackham's most distinctive signed limited editions, enhanced by notable twentieth-century bibliophile provenance.
Illustrations: Mounted colour frontispiece; numerous full-page, double-page and in-text silhouettes by Arthur Rackham, several with colour; including the additional colour illustration exclusive to the Edition de Luxe.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
REFERENCES
Latimore & Haskell, Arthur Rackham: A Bibliography, p. 51
Riall, A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham, p. 141
Christie's, various copies of the 1920 Edition de Luxe
Sotheby's, Catalogue of the Important Collection of Books by Defoe and Swift and of Books Relating to the City of London, Trade and Economics: The Property of the Late H. C. Drayton, 18–19 March 1968.
SYNOPSIS
The Sleeping Beauty belongs to one of Europe's oldest and most enduring fairy-tale traditions. Earlier forms of the story appear in the medieval Perceforest and in Giambattista Basile's seventeenth-century Pentamerone, while Charles Perrault's La Belle au bois dormant of 1697 and the Brothers Grimm's later Dornröschen established the versions most familiar today.
C. S. Evans's retelling follows the familiar story of the long-awaited Princess Briar-Rose, cursed by an excluded fairy to prick her finger on a spindle. Although the fatal curse is softened into a century-long sleep, the enchantment encompasses the princess and her entire household until the appointed prince penetrates the encircling thorn hedge and awakens her.
Evans expands the traditional narrative with additional courtly and magical detail, giving Rackham unusual freedom to populate the story with fairies, courtiers, servants, musicians, animals and grotesque figures. The result is one of Rackham's most distinctive later illustrated books, relying heavily upon silhouettes and carefully controlled touches of colour rather than the large watercolour plates that characterised much of his earlier work.
AUTHOR BIO
Charles Seddon Evans (1883–1944) was a British publisher and writer. Educated at East London College, he began his career as a schoolmaster before joining Edward Arnold as educational editor and subsequently William Heinemann, where he spent the remainder of his professional life, eventually becoming chairman and managing director.
Evans wrote The Sleeping Beauty as a companion to his earlier Cinderella, likewise illustrated by Arthur Rackham. His retelling expands the traditional fairy tale while drawing particularly upon the Perrault and Brothers Grimm traditions, providing Rackham with ample opportunity for both narrative illustration and decorative silhouette work.
ILLUSTRATOR
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham RWS (1867–1939) was one of the pre-eminent illustrators of the Golden Age of British book illustration. His distinctive combination of fluid pen-and-ink drawing, watercolour and fantastic imagery established an immediately recognisable style and made him one of the most commercially successful book artists of his generation.
Rackham illustrated many of the major literary and fairy-tale classics of the period, including Rip Van Winkle, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and The Wind in the Willows. By the time of Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty, he had developed a striking silhouette technique which allowed gesture, profile and movement to carry much of the narrative.
Image 1 of 17
Image 2 of 17
Image 3 of 17
Image 4 of 17
Image 5 of 17
Image 6 of 17
Image 7 of 17
Image 8 of 17
Image 9 of 17
Image 10 of 17
Image 11 of 17
Image 12 of 17
Image 13 of 17
Image 14 of 17
Image 15 of 17
Image 16 of 17
Image 17 of 17
