Dickens's Christmas Carol Illustrated by Arthur Rackham DLE (Item#3797; $276)

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/deluxe-limited-editions/a-christmas-c...

"Charles Dickens's immortal classic in the beloved 1915 illustrated edition…illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
The great story of Christmas brought to life by the great artist from illustration's Golden Age. A stunning reproduction of the 1915 illustrated edition featuring 12 hand-tipped color plates and other black-and-white images. Limited to just 1,200 hand-numbered copies!"

>1 EPsonNY: How do you feel about Rackham’s illustrations compared to Cangilia’s?

>2 judgethatcher: Caniglia's illustrations are underwhelming compared to Rackham's.

Caniglia's work for EP seems to include a lot of portraits of individuals (alone or with one more individual; no group scenes) and static & zoomed-in images (objects/still nature). They were all originally created as oil paintings, which EP claims "reflect the artist's rich emotional content and training in Old Master techniques." However, in my opinion compared to Rackham, they are not as dynamic, don't tell the story as well and don't seem to convey deep emotions well either in Christmas Carol or in O. Henry's Stories (perhaps the paintings do a better job).

I have a personal preference for the work of artists like Vanessa Lemen (The Left Hand of Darkness DLE), Rick Berry (Dracula DLE), Jim Salvati (more Atlas Shrugged DLE than Moby Dick DLE) or Balbusso Twins (Folio Society Atlas Shrugged & Beehive Books The Great Gatsby).

It would be intriguing to see a contemporary and perhaps abstract take on Christmas Carol...

>3 EPsonNY: I agree with you. I haven't seen his illustrations for O. Henry's Stories but I have for Christmas Carol and I feel like something is missing in them. I agree with you on Salvati but not on Lemen and Berry :/ I am not sure I like Folio’s edition artist Lupton for the Left Hand of Darkness but I do prefer Folio’s Dracula’s Barrett illustrations over EP’s Berry’s. It’s just my personal preference though, as art-wise, I think Berry’s illustrations are probably better/more artistic for the title.

>3 EPsonNY: It seems we have similar taste in illustration art. I completely agree not only about Rackham, but also with regard to Lemen, Berry, Salvati, and the Balbusso twins. :)

>4 judgethatcher: I actually prefer the earlier edition of FS's Dracula with Abigail Rover's illustrations over Angela Barrett's. When I considered buying Rover edition and was doing my research, I stumbled upon a Harper Design edition illustrated by a comic book artist Becky Cloonan. Her style resonated with me more than that of Rover's and book turned out to be absolute pleasure to read with her unconventional, but fitting, art. Somewhere along the way, I also picked up EP's DLE. I try not to own more than two editions of the same book, which in some cases can be very difficult :D...

>5 whytewolf1: :) My hopes are that FS will follow with Balbusso illustrated Fountainhead at some point. I cheer for EP to get Vanessa Lemen or Rick Berry to do some classics like One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest or more science fiction titles.

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/rick-berry-american-20th-century-science-fi...

https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1732068

>6 EPsonNY: "My hopes are that FS will follow with Balbusso illustrated Fountainhead at some point. I cheer for EP to get Vanessa Lemen or Rick Berry to do some classics like One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest or more science fiction titles."

Those are some nice thoughts. Fingers crossed.

The "thing" about the Cangilia illustrated DLE is that it is signed by the artist. Alas, there will be no Rackham-signed editions :)
All that said, Rackham was indeed a master... and yet, I have to tell you I feel that Cangilia's darker tone is more appropriate. Personal opinion, of course.

>8 astropi: I never purchase books for signatures, but rather for the contents - literary work & illustrations - considering the overall importance of the work in literary terms, its connection to my values/opinions (including opposing points of view) and artwork's appeal to my personal taste.

If Caniglia's signature page were removed from the book and auctioned off on eBay or other similar venue, we could get an estimate as to its intrinsic worth. My guess based on a quick search for Caniglia signed books points towards pretty low value.

Rackham does insert his share of darkness/creepiness, but also infuses the artwork with a sense of togetherness, community, love & joy and positive change that to me exemplify Christmas. What is more, his illustrations tell a continuous story of character's journey to redemption.

Recently, I purchased a copy of Rip van Winkle from the 1800s and learned that all the tipped-in illustrations were intentionally placed at the end of the text in chronological order with the illustrator as the story-teller. Text was meant to be read first and illustrator's work viewed afterward. I find that despite visual appeal of their work, many contemporary illustrators cannot tell us a good story. Sometimes, I believe it happens when they pursue originality and they do not want to repeat the scenes that were done by another famous illustrator...

Perhaps Caniglia's art is more impressive as paintings viewed in person?

https://issuu.com/caravaggioexhibition/docs/illuminating_dickens_a_christmas_ca?...