"The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book" by Arthur Rackham George Harrap, London - 1933 first UK Rackham edition - 8 colored plates plus many b/w in-text illustrations by Rackham - 287p, 18cmx15cm - condition: fine copy, complete with all Rackham plates, and illustrated endpapers. In rare first issue original dustwrapper, with the correct orange colour motif, in exceptional condition, rarely encountered. Stories from The Arabian Nights, including "Sindbad the Sailor" and "The Story of Aladdin," appear beside European fairy tales like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Ugly Duckling," "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding-Hood," and "Hansel and Grethel." Also featured are the traditional English folktale "Jack and the Beanstalk" and Washington Irving's American legend, "Rip Van Winkle." In his introduction, Rackham praises the imaginative legacy of these "old favourites" of the nursery: "their incidents, characters, and even phrases have become part of our everyday thought and expression, and help to shape our lives." Rackham's intricate, otherworldly illustrations, rendered in rich muted tones, tie the wide-ranging tales together.