A Christmas Carol. Beautifully Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. London: Heinemann, 1915. First Edition Thus. Pp, 147. Publisher’s mauve cloth boards lettered & decorated in gilt, pictorial endpapers. Light fading to boards, but overall a nice bright copy.

With twelve coloured plates & titled tissue guards, and numerous black and white illustrations throughout the text by Arthur Rackham.

Long recognised as a principal artist in the Golden Age of British book illustration ‘A Christmas Carol’ marks the first time Arthur Rackham illustrated a work by Charles Dickens.

Under Rackham’s pen and watercolour brush this Christmas classic becomes an elegant children’s book. His illustrations range from sentimental scenes from childhood, such as Bob Cratchit’s sliding on the ice at Cornhill to the “mystical and fantastic” realisations of Scrooge’s spiritual journey.