Description
Signed limited edition of The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie by Richard Wagner, with illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
Large octavo, ix, [2], 3-159pp, [1]. Finely bound in three-quarter red morocco, red cloth-covered boards. Five raised bands, title in gilt on spine with gilt embellished compartments. Top edge gilt. Binder’s imprint on verso of front free endpaper: “Bound for Chas. J. Sawyer, Ltd. London.” Solid text block, touch of foxing throughout text, a near fine example. Complete with 34 full-page plates, including frontispiece. Each plate mounted to brown cardstock with captioned tissue guard. (Latimore & Haskell 37)
One of 1150 limited edition copies, this one numbered 648. Signed by the illustrator, Arthur Rackham, on the limitation page.
The original title of this composition by Richard Wagner in German was Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of Nibelung), a collection of four German language music dramas. The four parts include: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). The previous bookseller, Charles J. Sawyer, owned and operated his bookshop from 1894 until his passing in 1931, when the firm was bequeathed to his children.
