ARTHUR RACKHAM
By
An extensive, detailed, thorough examination of Rackham's work, to which the 148 illustrations (24 in color) contribute significantly. Gettings recognizes that over the long span of his life (1867-1939), Rackham's work never changed; he acknowledges that outside the artist's own domain, ""he was essentially an eclectic who had not found his own personal vision""; and criticism thus disarmed, he explores Rackham's characteristic style (""line and image inseparable""), his working methods, compositional devices, and imagery. The concluding sections discuss Rackham's ""best"" illustrations book by book. Essential for Rackhamites of course, but instructive also for those who value illustration as an enterprise.