The Ring of the Niblung: A Trilogy with a Prelude by Richard Wagner. The Rhinegold: Prelude; The Valkyrie: First Day of the Trilogy; Siegfried: Second Day of the Trilogy; The Twilight of the Gods: Third Day of the Trilogy. -
Richard Wagner, Arthur Rackham (illustrator), Margaret Armour (translator)
1914 - William Heinemann, London
‘What is it, sleek ones,
That yonder gleams and shines?’
An elegantly bound set of Rackham's dramatic interpretation of Wagner's libretti..
Wagner’s ‘Trilogy, with a Prelude’, his libretti for The Ring of Niblung cycle, stunningly illustrated by Arthur Rackham, featuring sixty-four beautiful tipped-in colour plates each with descriptive tissue guards, and twenty-three black and white drawings across two volumes.
Translated from the German into English by Margaret Armour. Wagner’s operas are loosely based on characters from the Norse sagas, and the German poem the Nibelungenlied, the plot revolving around a magic ring that grants the power to rule the world.
Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), English illustrator and water-colourist. One of the foremost and most productive of the Edwardian illustrators, with a preference for illustrating books of a mystical, magic or legendary background. Aided by advances in colour printing at the beginning of the 20th century, his imaginative eye saw all forms with the eyes of childhood and created a world that was half reassuring and half frightening, whilst adding a delightfully humorous flourish to many of his illustrations, although he can descend into darker depths as seen for Wagner and Edgar Allan Poe.
References: House, Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 424. Latimore & Haskell, Arthur Rackham: A Bibliography, 37-38. Riall, A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham,103,109.
Two quarto volumes (binding 25.3x19.3cm), pp. [4] ix [1] 160 [4] ; [4] ix [1] 182 [6]. Bound for Asprey in full pale blue morocco, spines in six compartments with intricate borders and motifs, gilt lettering, single gilt filet border to boards and edges, twin gilt filet turn-ins, marbled endpapers, al edges gilt. Condition: Fine in fine bindings but for a hint of uniform toning to the spines. Ref: 112577 Price: HK$ 12,000
That yonder gleams and shines?’
An elegantly bound set of Rackham's dramatic interpretation of Wagner's libretti..
Wagner’s ‘Trilogy, with a Prelude’, his libretti for The Ring of Niblung cycle, stunningly illustrated by Arthur Rackham, featuring sixty-four beautiful tipped-in colour plates each with descriptive tissue guards, and twenty-three black and white drawings across two volumes.
Translated from the German into English by Margaret Armour. Wagner’s operas are loosely based on characters from the Norse sagas, and the German poem the Nibelungenlied, the plot revolving around a magic ring that grants the power to rule the world.
Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), English illustrator and water-colourist. One of the foremost and most productive of the Edwardian illustrators, with a preference for illustrating books of a mystical, magic or legendary background. Aided by advances in colour printing at the beginning of the 20th century, his imaginative eye saw all forms with the eyes of childhood and created a world that was half reassuring and half frightening, whilst adding a delightfully humorous flourish to many of his illustrations, although he can descend into darker depths as seen for Wagner and Edgar Allan Poe.
References: House, Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 424. Latimore & Haskell, Arthur Rackham: A Bibliography, 37-38. Riall, A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham,103,109.
Two quarto volumes (binding 25.3x19.3cm), pp. [4] ix [1] 160 [4] ; [4] ix [1] 182 [6]. Bound for Asprey in full pale blue morocco, spines in six compartments with intricate borders and motifs, gilt lettering, single gilt filet border to boards and edges, twin gilt filet turn-ins, marbled endpapers, al edges gilt. Condition: Fine in fine bindings but for a hint of uniform toning to the spines. Ref: 112577 Price: HK$ 12,000