Undine

Undine by Friedrich de La Motte-Fouqué. London: William Heinemann; Doubleday Page and Co., New York, [1909]. 

First trade edition, first impression. In original dust wrapper. Sized 25.8 x 19cm. Pp. 136.

Colour frontispiece and 14 colour plates, as called for, each mounted on plain paper in a grey printed frame with captioned tissue guards, title page printed in green and black, black and white drawings in the text.

This publication "was still another step forward for Rackham, the unity of conception in the line drawings and the colour plates, and the assertion of contrast in the moods of the heroine, rendered it a masterpiece of sympathetic understanding" (Hudson, p. 80).

"The story of Undine, the water-spirit, and the Knight of Huldbrand who wedded her, seems to have been waiting for Mr Rackham's brush. There could have been, perhaps, no more fitting theme for all the imaginative beauty and force of his work than this weird and beautiful romance." (extract from the 1909 Christmas Bookman review of this title)

The fairy tale of Undine, a water spirit who marries a human knight to acquire an immortal soul, was first published in German in 1811. 

Condition

Publisher's original cloth binding with lovely gilt decoration and lettering to front board and spine. Externally in good condition, however with some visible edgewear. Corners and spine tips bumped and worn, with spine tips showing slight fraying and mild discolouration. Outter joints are fine. Front inner hinge is almost broken, with some netting exposed. Rear inner hinge is in better condition, but still not perfect. Binding overall is fragile and shaken, although no pages have come loose yet. Internally, there is some foxing and tanning to pages, with some small, sporadic earmarks and chips to extremities. Tipped-in plates are in wonderful condition with all content clean and legible. A complete example. Presenting well in a good, unclipped (although no price shown) dust wrapper with clean panels, only slightly darkened to spine. Little chipping to head and base of the dust jacket, with minimal loss present. The dust wrapper has now been placed in a removable, protective sleeve of archival quality. A lovely example with a relatively rare (in this condition) dust wrapper, and while the book could use some TLC, it can still be perfectly enjoyed as is.