This edition - sure to enchant art lovers - will also delight Rackham devotees and fantasy fans alike. And enduring foundation of Catskill lore, the captivating narrative recounts the fanciful adventures of an amiable ne'er-do-well colonial farmer who wanders into the highlands, falls asleep after drinking with a band of strange little mountain men, and wakes twenty years later in a world that has passed him by.Įffusing a gentle humor, Rackham's art is a constant reminder of a more innocent era. 95 Rip Van Winkle (1819) By Washington Irving By Woden, God of Saxons, At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the light smoke. This edition features all 51 full-page color plates, as well as the full text of Irving's classic tale.

Today these images are recognized as among Rackham's very best works. In a pleasant village, at the foot of New Yorks Catskill. The illustrations featured traits that soon were to characterize much of Rackham's art: flowing pen lines and muted watercolors, forests of looming trees, lovely fairy maidens, and quizzical troll-like figures. The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War.

These magnificent illustrations, created for a 1905 edition of Washington Irving's enchanting fairy tale, established Arthur Rackham as a leading illustrator of his time.

Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving