1932 First De Luxe Edition - Andersen Fairy Tales illustrated by Arthur Rackham

An exceptional Rackham Andersen in the scarce publisher’s de luxe green morocco binding.

Author: Hans Christian Andersen. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Title: Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen.
Publisher: London, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1932. First Edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 10" x 7.5".
Pages: 287 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near-fine publisher’s de luxe full green morocco binding, richly decorated in gilt to the front board and spine, with gilt-ruled borders and charming gilt Rackham vignette to the upper board. Upper edge gilt. A lovely, bright, and well-preserved example of this special binding, with only the lightest signs of age, as shown. Protected in a removable mylar cover. 
Content: Near fine content, bright, tight, and clean, as shown. Decorative endpapers in excellent condition.
Illustrations: Complete with 12 tipped-in colour plates by Arthur Rackham, each with captioned tissue guard, together with numerous black-and-white illustrations and decorations throughout.

Estimate: USD $1,000–$1,200. 

The book: A superb first edition of Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen, beautifully illustrated by Arthur Rackham and presented here in the scarce publisher’s de luxe green morocco binding. Published by Harrap in 1932, this edition brings together some of Andersen’s most beloved tales, including Little Ida’s Flowers, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweep, The Swineherd, and many others.

Rackham’s illustrations give Andersen’s fairy world a wonderfully strange and poetic life. His colour plates are full of delicate mood and quiet drama, while the black-and-white drawings and silhouettes add a darker, playful enchantment to the text. The gilt-decorated morocco binding, with its whimsical Rackham creatures on the front board, makes this a particularly desirable collector’s copy.

The author: Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was the Danish master of the literary fairy tale. His stories, often tender, melancholy, humorous, and morally complex, transformed the fairy tale into a lasting literary form. Works such as The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, and The Emperor’s New Clothes remain among the most enduring stories in world literature.

The illustrator: Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) was one of the greatest illustrators of the Golden Age of book illustration. His distinctive style, combining sinuous line, delicate colour, grotesque humour, and deep imaginative atmosphere, made him especially suited to fairy tales and folklore. In Andersen’s tales, Rackham finds both the sweetness and the shadows of childhood wonder.