Arthur Rackham: Aesop's Fables Limited Edition, No. 1103/1450

David Brass Rare Books, Inc., of Calabasas, California, offers a signed, limited edition of Arthur Rackham's exceptional Aesop's Fables (William Heinemann, 1912). 

The price is $3,250.

Title page

Signed limitation page, no. 1103 of 1450

I am most intrigued by the announcement of a 1912 exhibition of Rackham's original book illustrations at London's Leicester Galleries:

The North Wind and the Sun

The Oak and the Reeds

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks listing accessed May 24, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Aesops-Fables-RACKHAM-Arthur-illustrator-AESOP/32452382040/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=img

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks item description

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks store description

Note:  I was not able to attend the Arthur Rackham exhibition at Leicester Galleries in 1912 and neither were my great grandparents. Still, I might like to see the price list, from anyone who may have benefitted from art-loving great grandparents who were also pack rats.

Longtime readers may recall that I am also looking for a price list or catalogue from Peter Arno's 1932 exhibition at the Leicester Galleries.  

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Thomas Nast: Enter the Elephant

Among his many accomplishments, cartoonist Thomas Nast was largely responsible for establishing the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party. He first introduced a pachyderm labeled "The Republican Vote" in a Harper's Weekly cartoon from the November 7, 1874, issue. The parable of "The Ass in the Lion's Skin" is from Aesop, not Shakespeare.

The Third-Term Panic.
"An Ass, having put on the Lion's skin, roamed about in the Forest, and amused himself by frightening all the foolish Animals he met with in his wanderings."—Shakspeare or Bacon.
Thomas Nast
Harper's Weekly, November 7, 1874, p. 912

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)#/media/File:NastRepublicanElephant.jpg

Two weeks later, he revisited the idea, showing the hapless Republican elephant "Caught in a Trap—The Result of the Third-Term Hoax." Nast, a Republican, was reacting in both cartoons to unfounded speculation that Ulysses S. Grant would run for an unprecedented third presidential term in 1876. Argosy Book Store has a copy of the November 21 page in its inventory.

Caught in a Trap—The Result of the Third-Term Hoax.
Thomas Nast
Harpers Weekly, November 21, 1874, p. 960

Thomas Nast
Argosy Book Store listing accessed May 29, 2025

https://www.argosybooks.com/details.php?record=328173&jump=1&pkd_source=_newarr&utm_source=website&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=emaillists

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Arthur Rackham: The Frogs and the Well

It's that time of year again for the Chris Beetles Gallery's annual exhibition "The Illustrators," which features the best of British illustration art from approximately 1800 to 2013. As in previous years, Chris Beetles has unearthed an extraordinary selection of illustration art new to the market. If past years are any guide, the best items will sell out quickly. Take, for example, Arthur Rackham's 1912 illustration of "The Frogs and the Well" from Aesop's Fables. It has already been snatched up, more than ten days before the exhibition officially opens.

http://www.chrisbeetles.com/exhibitions.html

Arthur Rackham, "The Frogs and the Well" from Aesops' Fables. London: William Heinemann, 1912, page 161

http://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/illustrations/frogs-and-well.html

Note:  Can anyone tell me the selling price?

There is more artwork by Arthur Rackham on the blog here.

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