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Arthur Rackham (1867 – 1939) was an English book illustrator.
Arthur Rackham is widely regarded as one of the leading illustrators from the ‘Golden Age’ of British book illustration which encompassed the years from 1900 until the start of the First World War. During that period, there was a strong market for high quality illustrated books which typically were given as Christmas gifts.
Many of Rackham’s books were produced in a deluxe limited edition, often vellum bound and sometimes signed, as well as a larger, less ornately bound quarto ‘trade’ edition. This was often followed by a more modestly presented octavo edition in subsequent years for particularly popular books. He was one of the most prolific and most loved illustrator of children’s book. Many of his work are still in print today.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the titular character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to the Middle Ages, the earliest references describing a piper, dressed in multicolored (“pied”) clothing, who was a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the citizens refuse to pay for this service, he retaliates by using his instrument’s magical power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. This version of the story spread as folklore and has appeared in the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, and Robert Browning, among others.
Presenting the illustrations by Arthur Rackham for the First edition of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Published by George Harrap Co., 1934.
Other Arthur Rackham’s illustrated works available in our gallery: Rip Van Winkle, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Book of Pictures, The Night Before Christmas, Midsummer’s Night Dream, Undine, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan in Kensington Garden, The Ingoldsby Legends, Grimm’s Fairy Tales.