RACKHAM, Arthur (1867-1939, illustrator). Aesop's Fables, London, 1912, 4to, 13 coloured plates by Arthur Rackham, original cream pictorial buckram gilt. FIRST RACKHAM EDITION. NUMBER 379 OF 1,450 COPIES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST.

RACKHAM, Arthur (1867-1939, illustrator) - AESOP (c. 620-564 BCE).  Aesop's Fables. A New Translation by V. S. Vernon Jones. With an Introduction by G. K. Chesterton. London: William Heinemann, 1912. 4to (292 x 230mm). Half title, mounted coloured frontispiece and 12 coloured plates by Arthur Rackham, illustrations, some full-page (a few text leaves including the limitation leaf lightly browned and spotted, plates unaffected). Original pictorial cream buckram gilt, top edges gilt, others uncut (very lightly stained, spine darkened). Provenance: Cecily Mary Severne (bookplate). FIRST RACKHAM EDITION. NUMBER 379 OF 1,450 COPIES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST. Gettings pp.83-84; Hudson p.94 and p.169: "In Aesop's Fables (1912) ... Rackham's primary intention was to amuse ... [T]here are several self-caricatures to be detected ... He is the man who catches the flea, the pompous gentleman who scolds the drowning boy, the credulous slave-owner who scrubs the black boy"; Latimore and Haskell pp.38-39; Riall p.111.

Provenance: Shakenhurst Hall, Cleobury Mortimer. For further information please refer to the Bellmans website article: https://www.bellmans.co.uk/story/bellmans-2