Milton’s Masque Envisioned: Rackham’s Comus

Arthur Rackham’s illustrated edition of John Milton’s Comus represents a singular achievement in the artist’s celebrated career, standing as one of his most ambitious and distinctive works. Published in 1921 by William Heinemann in London and Doubleday, Page & Co. in New York, this volume marked the culmination of a project begun before the First World War and long delayed in its completion . The resulting publication ranks among Rackham’s finest achievements from his mature period, demonstrating the full range of his artistic imagination.

The work illustrated is Milton’s masque Comus, originally titled A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle and first performed in 1634 before the Earl of Bridgewater . The masque tells the allegorical story of a Lady lost in the woods who encounters Comus, the god of revelry and excess, who attempts to seduce her from the path of virtue. The Lady’s steadfast resistance, aided by her brothers and the spirit Sabrina, ultimately triumphs, celebrating the virtue of chastity against the forces of temptation and disorder.

The 1921 edition contains twenty-four tipped-in color plates mounted on heavy brown paper, each protected by a captioned tissue guard, alongside numerous black-and-white illustrations dispersed throughout the text . The frontispiece and twenty-three additional color plates showcase Rackham’s extraordinary ability to render both the ethereal beauty of Milton’s verse and the darker, more unsettling aspects of the narrative. One original watercolor from this series, depicting six water nymphs dancing above a river with small sprites huddled on the riverbed, exemplifies Rackham’s delicate handling of the masque’s pastoral elements.

Contemporary critics noted that Comus represented something of an artistic departure for Rackham, who “here ran the gamut of his artistic emotions”. The “rout of Monsters”—Comus’s band of grotesque revelers—provoked the artist into several drawings in what was described as “an unusually disturbing vein,” prefiguring the darker sensibility he would later bring to his illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe . The influence of Aubrey Beardsley is evident in several pages, yet these darker passages alternate with moments of “pure poetry that recall Rackham’s own work for Peter Pan and the Dream” .

The book was issued in a signed limited edition of 550 copies, each numbered and signed by Rackham on the limitation page . The physical production reflects the high standards of Heinemann’s deluxe illustrated volumes: the binding features vellum-backed boards with gilt lettering and designs to the spine and front cover, pictorial endpapers, and top edge gilt . Some copies were issued in full blue crushed morocco with gilt dentelles, representing the finest binding executions of the period.

For collectors and admirers of Rackham’s art, Comus holds a special place as a work that captures the artist at a pivotal moment of transition—drawing upon the romantic sensibilities of his early career while exploring darker, more psychologically complex territory that would characterize his later work. It remains one of the most substantial and sought-after volumes in the Rackham canon, a testament to the enduring power of Milton’s masque and the singular vision of its greatest illustrator.

Recommended for collectors and readers:

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1908), illustrated by Arthur Rackham – Another literary classic where Rackham’s illustrations magnify the magical atmosphere.
• Undine (1909), illustrated by Arthur Rackham – A romantic tale of supernatural love, with similarly delicate and haunting artwork.

Art Gallery: Arthur Rackham – Comus 1921