Peer Gynt: A Dramatic Poem Illustrated by Arthur Rackham

London: George G. Harrap & Co. Limited , 1936. Stated at copyright page: "First Published 1936 by George G. Harrap & Co., Limited." Ruddy orange full-cloth boards, gilt cover and spine titles, design w/light shelf wear, bump. Features bright stylized titles and two whimsically impish troll creatures; Harrap in gilt at spine heel. Pages near fine. Endpapers with golden silhouette collage of magical fairies and nefarious trolls. Earthy reddish-brown top-stain. Antiquarian pictorial bookplate inside cover: "Ex Libris, V.B. Wyman Pilcher". Plate depicts silhouette of rancher resting on fence w/sheep on hill in b.g. Frontispiece plate of "Peer Before the King of the Trolls. Bind fine; hinges intact. Features one dozen smooth color plates; each with captioned tissue guard. In addition, profusely illustrated with headers, tailpieces, partial-page vignettes throughout. Rare in original wrap-around pictorial dust wrapper, moderate edge wear, chip, rub, vintage adhesive; unclipped 15/-Net, protected in new clear sleeve. Front panel features frontispiece image rendered in gold, white, grey, and black of Peer before the King of Trolls wrappring around to spine and back panel with various hopping characters including bull, swine, and trolls. Overall design around to spine and back panel is 10" x 17". Front flap lists illustrated books of A. R. Rare near fine first edition in good original dust jacket. Gift inscription to Dr. Jennie Benson Wyman-Pilcher to front blank endpaper: "Presented to Dr. J. W. Pilcher, in appreciation of her work in the Department of Psychology. Psychology Club, Unversity of British Columbia, March 1, 1938." Beautiful vintage signatures of members below: "James L. Gillen; Margaret J. MacKenzie; Elizabeth McKinnon; Oliver L. Lacey; Dorothy Lindop Brown; Francis E. McNair; Helen Pattison; Stanley Bailey; J. Mulland Alexander; J. Louis MacDougall; Charles O. Richmond; James Lowe; Margaret Harper; H. Madeleine Vanes; Ardis Colbourne; Joseph E. Marsh; Frank Wilson; H. Z. S. Coleman; Ernest L. Bishop; Hyslap B. Gray; Margaret Miller; Bill Stewart; Bill Sibley; Irene Elgie; and, Aileen Mann." Among the masterpieces of world literature, this early verse drama by the celebrated Norwegian playwright humorously yet profoundly explores the virtues, vices, and follies common to all humanity — as represented in the person of Peer Gynt, a charming but irresponsible young peasant. Based on Norwegian folklore and Ibsen’s own imaginative inventions, the play relates the roguish life of the world-wandering Peer, who finds wealth and fame - but never happiness - redeemed by love in the end. As the play opens the young farmer attends a wedding and meets Solveig, the woman who is eventually to be his salvation. However, the rascally Peer then kidnaps the bride and later abandons her in the wilderness. This dismal performance is followed by adventures in many lands. After these soul-chilling exploits, an old and embittered Peer returns to Norway, eventually finding solace in the arms of the faithful Solveig. Imbued with poetic mysticism and romanticism, in Peer we find a rebellious character in search of an ultimate truth that always seems just out of reach. In this sense Peer can be seen as an alter ego of Ibsen himself, whose lifelong search for artistic and moral certainties resulted in the great later plays (Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck, An Enemy of the People, etc.) Opening scene: "The action, which begins in the early years of the ninteenth century and ends somewhere about 1867, takes place partly in the Gudbrandsdal and on the surrounding mountain-tops, partly on the coast of Morocco, in the Sahara Desert, in the Cairo Lunatic Asylum, at sea, etc." From colophon: "Printed in Edinburgh - the text in Bembo type by R & R Clark, Limited, and the colour plates by Messrs. McLagan & Cumming." 256 pages. Insured post.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. Illus. by Rackham, Arthur. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.