Irish Fairy Tales. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. London: Macmillan,1920. First Edition. Pp x, 318. Publisher’s green cloth, gilt title and illustration to upper cover and spine. In publisher’s cream dust jacket lettered in green. Light  shelf-wear to head of spine; dust jacket with loss to lower portion at tail of spine & chipped along top edge. A very good copy & scarce in the original dust jacket.

Signature of Arthur Rackham tipped-in to half title page.

The first trade edition of this landmark collaboration bringing together James Stephens, a leading figure of the Irish Literary Revival, with Arthur Rackham, perhaps the most celebrated illustrator of the Edwardian Golden Age of Illustration. The book is complete with sixteen colour plates (including frontispiece) with captioned tissue guards, plus numerous black and white illustrations throughout by Arthur Rackham.

The Bookman, reviewing the work for Christmas 1920, described it as “for the child whose parents worship Ireland, for those with adoration for her legends” —a fitting tribute to a book that sought to render Ireland’s ancient mythological cycles accessible to a new generation. 

Poet and novelist James Stephens (1882‒1950) was a leading figure in the Irish literary revival of the early 20th century and a supporter of Irish independence.