THE THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG: A Trilogy With a Prelude [being] RHINEGOLD AND THE VALKYRIE [with] SIEGFRIED AND THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS. Translated by Margaret Armour

London / New York: William Heinemann / Doubleday, Page & Co., 1920; circa 1920. 2 volumes. First Edition, new impression of each volume, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. With a total of 64 tipped-in colour plates and numerous decorations in line, all by Arthur Rackham. 4to, handsomely bound by Bayntun Riviere of Bath in uniform three-quarter navy morocco over blue cloth-covered boards, the corner-pieces and backs trimmed in gilt, the spines with tall raised bands gilt decorated between compartments attractively framed in gilt, two compartments gilt lettered, marbled endpapers, t.e.g. 160; 182 pp. A very handsome set, the bindings are in excellent condition, strong and sturdy and near as pristine, the text-block clean and completely free of foxing or spotting, the plates are all present and vivid, bright and clean, Vol. II with the Ring of the Niblung general title and the Siegfried half-title but bound without the 'Siegfried' title-page. A VERY HANDSOMELY BOUND SET WITH THE IMPORTANT RACKHAM ILLUSTRATIONS TO WAGNER'S RING CYCLE. It is obvious at first glance that Rackham was deeply and personally inspired by Wagner’s great mythic theme. His illustrations emerge from each page with dramatic force and stirring emotion. The Rhinegold illustrations were a grand achievement in the continuing evolution of the artist’s style. Unlike many of his other books, his Wagnerian illustrations were not geared to a child audience. He wrote to a twelve year old fan, “I am very glad you like my illustrations. I am rather afraid that the books of mine that are coming out this year and next, which illustrate Wagner’s great Music-stories, the ‘Ring of the Nibelungs’, are not very well suited for those lucky people who haven’t yet finished the delightful adventure of growing up, but soon, perhaps, you will know and be fond of Wagner’s music and writings, and then you may like these drawings of mine as well as the others.”-from Derek Hudson.
The artist invites us intimately into the heroic realm of the Norse Myths with his seemingly inexhaustible creative imagination. We sense a timeless serenity and repose in his, “Freia, the fair one,” and are swept into the charged drama as “Fasolt suddenly seizes Freia and drags her to one side with Fafner.” We enter the mystical realm of heavenly despair in “The Gods grow wan and aged at the loss of Freia” and cringe at the gnarled suffering we witness in “Mime, howling.” And how can we ever forget the haunting portrait of the horde of enslaved “Nibelungs laden with gold and silver treasure” as with tortured, anguished faces they hoist their bounty? The range of human and heroic emotion conveyed within these 64 extraordinary illustrations, graphically invokes the genius of Wagner’s literary masterpiece and demonstrates once again Rackham’s preeminence in the realm of illustration.