The Arthur Rackham Treasury: 86 Full-Color Illustrations (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  I wasn't all that familiar with Arthur Rackham's works to be honest before I purchased this book. I have seen plenty of his art around in older children's books and different fantasy art compilations. I have quite an extensive collection of fairy (faery) and fantasy art books and I think that Arthur Rackham's Treasury was clearly missing from my collection. I was instantly in love with his old fashioned fairy tale illustrations and the muted color tones. I really like how Rachkham's art is somewhat creepy in some aspects, but also magical taking you inside the story behind each piece. It has the depth of each character portrayed in fairy tales in a very complex way. As someone else mentioned, the Alice in Wonderland illustration on the cover was what definitely sold me this book. As far as the quality of paper it was printed on goes, it is so- so. It is rather thin, reminding me of the paper that school textbooks are printed on. However, I was happy to read that I saved several trees with my purchase as it is all recycled paper.I would recommend this book to any and all ages who love fantasy with a twist of the unexpected. I am providing a video to show what is to be expected inside of the book. I know a lot of people are scared to buy something they have never seen before.

I was introduced to Arthur Rackham's magical illustrations as a child via the old St. Nicholas children's magazines, and his pictures have lost none of their magic in the ensuing years. Rackham's pen-and-ink drawings are complemented by a muted palette of colors that transform the glossy pages into insubstantial doors that open into an enchanted world populated by slender butterfly-winged fairies, multitudes of elves and gnomes, and twisted anthropomorphic trees that capture a child's imagination, without being threatening. At the same time, the sharp angular faces of the children in his drawings suggest a subtle mischievous humor that prevents Rackham's illustrations from ever sinking into sentimentality.Rackham's pen covered a wide range of subjects, from Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Tempest" by way of Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows", Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," and classical fairy tales, to Wagner's "Ring of the Niebelungen."We are so lucky to have these beautifully reproduced Dover illustrations in a single book. They should be introduced to one's grandchildren so that their own imaginations may also take flight with the enchanting creatures of Arthur Rackham's world.

I’m only beginning to feel my way through AR and books about him. I got this one hoping its selection of illustrations would help me find his work that emphasizes the forest and wood interiors he does so well. It’s come through for me there. And it seems to be a good survey of his work on comparatively few pages: it’s all full page images and spare captions. The colors, however, are not as saturated as those in my copy of AR, A Life With Illustration. I’m glad I have this book. It was delivered promptly and is in very good condition.

I bought this while browsing through the illustration section of Amazon.com. The illustration on the cover captured my attention: the soft desaturated tones, the girl's pose and attitude, the flowing of the cards: everything was screaming excellence at me. So I instantly clicked on the buy button. When I recieved it, I was happy. It's not a hardback, but the print quality is excellent. The prints are full of gorgeous illustrations of all periods of Mr. Rackhams career. Some images aren't big enough for my tastes (i prefer the poster book variety), but they are still big enough to appreciate the fine detail that he put in the work. As an illustrator myself, I find the quality of the reproductions and the works worth studying. Highly recommended.

I heartily concur with all the other reviews as far as the necessity of exposing children to Rackham's illustrations as soon as possible. Hopefully this would happen in part through his books, like his Aesop's Fables, Favorite Tales From Grimm, Alice and Wonderland, etc. So my purpose is more practical: to say that the two Dover collections of his pictures, this and Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations are very true to Rackham's original color illustrations. I have seen reproductions of some of his illustrations that make his colors seem muddy. He uses a lot of dark colors in his work, but he also used many subtle light colors which have been captured well here. A great value for the money, along with the Fairy Tale book. All the pictures are suitable for framing.

It goes without saying that Rackham ranks among the best from the Golden Age of Illustration. But to truly appreciate his fine sense of line, composition and color, the reproductions need to be quite good. These are not. But what do you expect? It's a Dover book. Not exactly known for the high quality of their graphics, Dover books are cheap and they give you a lot of bang for your buck. This is certainly a good introduction to Rackham's work at a very reasonable price.

I bought this for my niece who is an artist. I wanted to share my favorite illustrator and she sent me a beautiful hand painted thank-you card. I thought she might gather inspiration from this prolific illustrator. He was one of my favorites.

I love anything by Arthur Rackham and this book did not disappoint. Great pictures in it.

Arthur Rackham as many will acknowledge was a genius. The combination of technical skill in draughtsmanship, handling of watercolour paints (universally acknowledged as being the most difficult of all media) and incredible imaginative power make his work an inspiritation for generations to come. This particular collection is I think very intelligently chosen - a really good selection of AR's output showing differing styles; also beautifully repoduced regarding tone and colour. Cannot believe this treasure is available for under £10. Any serious artist intereted in depicting the human figure or natural forms would benefit from studying this.

A lovely book for Arthur Rackham fans.Some artwork I hadn't seen before.

Excellent product and good timing!

Love it.

I am an Amazon fan and a faithful client. I do want to leave positive reviews when they are deserved but I don't have enough fantasy to invent a new review every time. So: simply perfect. Thx