Poe, Edgar Allan (Arthur Rackham, illustrator). Tales of Mystery and Imagination. London: George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., 1935. First Rackham Edition. Deluxe "Edition limited to Four Hundred and Sixty copies, of which Four Hundred and Fifty are for sale. This is copy No. 191." Signed boldly by the artist as "Arthur Rackham" in ink on the justification page. 4to, measuring 10-11/16" x 8" (271 x 203 mm). 317, [1] pp., plus 12 unnumbered leaves of colored plates and 17 unnumbered leaves of black and white plates. Publisher's deluxe full vellum covered boards, with titles and intricate decorative motifs stamped in gilt to the front cover and spine. Housed in the original publisher's gray paper covered board slipcase, featuring the original paper label printed in brown pasted to the spine panel with a hand-inked number matching the volume's limitation number. Features Rackham's custom black and white pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt (t.e.g.), other edges uncut, with some pages remaining entirely unopened. Provenance: Features the fine contemporary bookplate of Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. (noted American business executive and major philanthropist) on the front pastedown. Latimore and Haskell, pp. 72–73; Riall, p. 189.
The physical condition of the volume is graded FINE (utilizing the standard antiquarian book grading scale for works on paper). The deluxe full vellum binding remains exceptionally structural, secure, and tight, exhibiting only an ever-so-slight, natural toning to the spine panel, presenting an extraordinarily sharp, bright, and stunning survival of a notoriously fragile binding. Internally, the text blocks and plates are well-preserved and pristine, with the twelve color plates and seventeen black and white plates remaining entirely untouched and brilliant. Minor defects are restricted to the publisher's original slipcase, which is graded VERY GOOD (utilizing the same standard antiquarian book grading scale for works on paper) due to typical, minor routine wear to the edges, though it remains completely intact, functionally secure, and structurally sound.
The Master of Goth and the Master of Whimsy
This monumental, museum-grade volume represents a peak achievement in twentieth-century book illustration, bringing together twenty-five of Edgar Allan Poe’s most haunting tales with the dark, macabre imagination of Arthur Rackham (1867–1939). Universally recognized as one of the defining titles of the Golden Age of Illustration, this 1935 edition allowed Rackham to depart from his traditional fairy-tale realms to explore the visceral, psychological terrors of Poe’s literature, including The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Tell-Tale Heart.
The volume is lavishly illustrated with a spectacular color frontispiece and eleven additional full-color plates, each protected by its original captioned tissue guard, alongside seventeen full-page black and white plates and numerous line drawings, silhouettes, and textual vignettes scattered throughout the text matrix. Rackham’s distinct ability to manipulate eerie, twisting line work and atmospheric color washes mirrors the gothic architecture of Poe's mind perfectly, making this limited edition one of the most visually cohesive and coveted fine press items of the interwar period.
A MAGNIFICENT, SIGNED LIMITED FIRST RACKHAM EDITION OF EDGAR ALLAN POE'S TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION, NUMBER 191 OF ONLY 450 COPIES FOR SALE, SIGNED BY ARTHUR RACKHAM IN THE PUBLISHER'S DE LUXE FULL VELLUM BINDING AND COMPLEMENTED BY ITS ORIGINAL NUMBERED SLIPCASE, CONSTITUTING A PREMIER ANCHOR ARTIFACT FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH INTO THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUSTRATION, TWENTIETH-CENTURY FINE PRESS PUBLISHING, BIBLIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, AND AN UNRIVALED ACQUISITION FOR MASTER COLLECTIONS OF ILLUSTRATED AMERICANA OR HIGH-SPOT GOTHIC LITERATURE.
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