English Fairy Tales Retold by F. A. Steel and Illustrated by Arthur Rackham [Signed Limited Edition of 500]

St. Martin's Street, London: MacMillan & Co., Limited, 1918. Stated at limitation page: "This Edition Consists of Five Hundred Copies Signed by the Artist: 'No. 298, Arthur Rackham'". 1918 date at title page. Rare signed, limited edition printed by MacMillan & Company of London. Large 9" x 11 1/4" x 2" design weighing nearly 5 lbs. Cream vellum (leather) boards, gilt embossed cover and spine titles, some shelf wear, discoloration to front, back boards. Bright gilt cover design features finely detailed crest-like collage of children in various states of reading wonder; gilt spine design features stylized lion and titles. Frontispiece color plate by Rackham. Pages generally very good; first fifty at front with some varying edge discoloration. Bind good; front hinge reinforced. Features sixteen color plates in brilliant subdued hues and forty-two in black & white by Arthur Rackham. Each color plate features tissue w/caption, some toning. Additional partial-page imagery, headers, tailpieces, symbology and decoration throughout. Near very good interior, intact example. One of Arthur Rackham's books for English readers in the early post-war years. English Fairy Tales Retold by Flora Annie Steel, with its illustrations, features amongst many others, the grand fairy tales: "St. George of Merrie England; The Story of the Three Bears; Jack the Giant-Killer; The Golden Ball; Jack and the Beanstalk; The Three Little Pigs; Mr. Fox; The Old Woman and her Pig; Little Red Riding-Hood; The Babes in the Wood; The Ass, the Table, and the Stick; and, The Rose Tree." Printed by R. & R. Clarke, Limited, Edinburgh. 341 pages. Insured post.. Signed by Artist. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good. Illus. by Rackham, Arthur. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.