Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
May 1, 2012/in Non Fiction Books About Children's Books /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 194 May 2012
Reviewer: Neil Philip
ISBN: 978-0486483542
Price: £20.99
Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
Genre: Non Fiction
Age Range: Books About Children's Books
Length: 128pp
  • Introduction by: Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
Buy the Book

Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures

Author: Arthur Rackham

This is a paperback reprint of a book first published in 1913, when Arthur Rackham was at the height of his fame. The 44 colour plates are drawings made for Rackham’s own satisfaction, rather than commissioned illustrations, though they are mostly so much in the vein of his commissioned work that it would be hard to draw too fine a distinction.

At the time it was published, this book made a contribution to the public understanding of the range of Rackham’s art and the nature of his imagination, and was no doubt eagerly pored-over by his many admirers. To reprint it now seems slightly beside the point. If someone wants to buy a lavishly illustrated survey of Arthur Rackham, they will be looking for a balanced overview of his artistic output, including the great illustrated books that made his name, such as The Ingoldsby Legends, Rip van Winkle, and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and also those that sealed his reputation after WWI, such as The Compleat Angler, Goblin Market, and The Wind in the Willows.

Such a reader would also want brighter and more truthful colour images than these rather murky reproductions of reproductions. Additionally, one might expect a biography of the artist, a summation of his life’s work, and a consideration of his place in the history of illustration. Instead we are left with the original Introduction by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, which is an amiable and highly digressive essay on the nature of childhood, and barely mentions Rackham at all.

This is a pleasant book, but the production standards are not high, and anyone picking it up in the hope of finding out information about Arthur Rackham will set it down again in frustration. As a collection of unrelated images of fairies and goblins and nymphs and enchanted landscapes, and even the occasional human child, it will still give pleasure as the record of what Quiller-Couch calls ‘the elusive dreams of an artist’.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2012-05-01 00:00:152022-01-10 07:22:01Arthur Rackham’s Book of Pictures

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 273 July 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Debut Authors and Interrupters – the 2025 Little Rebels Award Shortlist

July 17, 2025

The School Library Association Announces Honours Lists for 2025 Awards

July 14, 2025

Margaret McDonald and her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu win the 2025 Branford Boase Award

July 9, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Vulgar the Viking and the Rock Cake Raiders I’ll Be There
Scroll to top