Undine by Fouqué, [Friedrich] de la Motte; Courtney, W. L. (Translator); Rackham, Arthur (Illustrations) - 1909

London: William Heinemann, 1909. First Edition. Leather bound. Near fine. Rackham, Arthur. First trade edition with Arthur Rackham illustrations, in a custom binding by Bayntun, octavo size, 142 pp. The charming fairy tale of a water nymph who falls in love with a knight, by German writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777-1843), "Undine" is lavishly illustrated by the eminent Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), an illustrator of many books which often depict fantasy and fairy tale subjects. Rackham contributed illustrations to many popular stories, such as "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Alice in Wonderland", and the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and his luscious style excels in portraying the magic and fantasy found in "Undine".

This volume is the first English trade edition with illustrations by Rackham, and features a custom binding by Bayntun, in Bath, England, a world-renowned book bindery specialising in elegant leather bindings and gilt designs; the sophisticated binding of red leather and gilt tooling complement Rackham's superior illustrations in this edition of a beloved fairy tale.

___DESCRIPTION: Custom binding of full red leather, gilt ruled borders on the front and rear boards, the spine with five raised bands, gilt rules and decorations, and blue and tan leather labels with gilt lettering, gilt decorative borders along the edges of the boards, all edges gilt, red leather turn-ins with a lavish gilt floral pattern, marbled endpapers in red, green, blue, and white, frontispiece a tipped-in colour illustation by Arthur Rackham with lettered tissue guard, fifteen (including frontispiece) tipped-in colour illustrations with lettered tissue guards by Rackham throughout, black-and-white head- and tailpieces by Rackham throughout; octavo size (9.5" by 7.25"), pagination: [i-vii] viii [1-3] 4-136. Bayntun binder's stamp on the verso of the front free endpaper.

___CONDITION: Volume is near fine, with clean boards, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, the illustrations collated complete, and entirely free of prior owner markings; professional strengthening of the joints and corners (name available upon request), light foxing to the half-title page and verso, and a few tissue guards with small, shallow creases. Overall an incredibly lovely work.

___CITATION: Latimore and Haskell pp. 34-35; Riall pp. 93-94.

___POSTAGE:  International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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