RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator; NIEBUHR, Barthold Georg

Greek Heroes, The

London: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1910. Item #06604

Rackham and the Greek Imagination - Early Myth in Line and Color
A Charming Cassell Edition of Classical Legends

[RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator]. NIEBUHR, Barthold Georg, translator. The Greek Heroes. Stories Translated from Niebuhr with Additions. London: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1910.

First reprint of the 1903 edition.

Small octavo (7 x 4 7/8 inches; 177 x 124 mm.). [1–9], 10–96 pp. With four color plates and eight black-and-white illustrations in the text by Arthur Rackham. Endpapers slightly browned.

Publisher’s blue cloth, front cover lettered in gilt and with a mounted color illustration (repeating the plate facing p. 12). Spine lettered in gilt. Extremities a little rubbed. A very good copy.

A compact and appealing early Rackham-illustrated volume, presenting a selection of classical myths drawn from Barthold Georg Niebuhr’s retellings. The text recounts the adventures of the Argonauts, Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, and the Heraclidae, bringing together some of the most enduring narratives of Greek mythology in a form accessible to younger readers.

Rackham’s illustrations - still early in his career but already unmistakable - lend the tales a distinctive atmosphere of wonder and mystery. The color plates, delicate in palette, are complemented by expressive line drawings that anticipate the more elaborate mythological work of his later years. The mounted illustration on the upper cover provides an additional decorative element characteristic of Cassell’s productions of the period.

While the 1903 first edition remains the priority issue, this 1910 reprint offers a more affordable and still highly attractive example of Rackham’s engagement with classical subject matter, increasingly sought when complete and in original cloth.

Riall, p. 100.

Price: $350.00