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. 132,' 'Arthur Rackham.'" 1918 date at title page. Rare signed, limited edition printed by MacMillan & Company of London. Larger 9 1/2" x 11 5/8" x 2" design weighing nearly 4 1/2 lbs. Cream vellum (leather) boards, gilt embossed cover and spine titles, sharp corner with slight shelf wear. 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. Thick deckled pages, near fine; few with moderate corner wear, crease. Moderate toning to, and adjacent to, tissue guards. Lightly pencilled small number inside cover. Fine dark violet satin ribbon marker. Bright gilded top edge. Bind fine, square; hinges intact. Antiquarian heraldic bookplate set in. Pencilled to back of this plate: "Streatfeild of Chiddingstone, Kent." The Streatfeild clan owned the beautiful Chiddingstone Castle from the early nineteenth century to the late 1930's when aquired by the Astors. This very volume may owe its rather amazing preservation as part of the Streatfeild collection. 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. Ultra-rare near fine signed limited edition of this beautiful vellum volume. 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. Fine. Illus. by Rackham, Arthur. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.