Kenneth Grahame, Arthur Rackham

A finely bound, First Rackham Edition copy of The Wind in the Willows.

• Kenneth Grahame (English).
• Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
• With an introduction by A.A. Milne.
• New York: Limited Editions Club, 1940.
• Quarto.
• 245 pages.
• Includes 16 tipped-in color plates (including frontispiece), title page vignette printed in green, and the title and chapter numbers printed in gilt.
• Limited to 2,020 copies, signed and numbered by the designer of the book, Bruce Rogers.
• Bound in green morocco gilt by the Chelsea Bindery, upper cover titled and blocked in gilt, paneled spine in six compartments, gilt lettered direct in second and fifth, raised bands, top edge gilt, others uncut.

The Wind in the Willows was the last book illustrated by Arthur Rackham, published shortly after his death. The illustrations did not appear in a British edition until 1950.

"Slowly, the drawings for The Wind in the Willows neared completion. The last drawing of all to be completed was that of Rat and Mole loading their boat for the picnic. When he thought he had finished it, he suddenly discovered that there were no oars in the boat... He insisted that everything must be put right and with great labour he altered the drawing. After he had finished, he lay back in his bed and said 'Thank goodness, that is the last one.’ And so it proved in every sense." (Derek Hudson, Arthur Rackham: His Life and Work).

 Naval hydrographer Captain Richard Campbell (bookplate).