Case X: Illustrating Shakespeare, then and now
Just as Shakespeare’s works have inspired some of the world’s great painters, so have book illustrators brought the texts to life for readers. This case offers a small sampling of illustrated editions from 1709 to 2009, and shows the range of forms and styles that artists have used to illustrate Shakespeare books. The middle and lower shelves focus on the work of Arthur Rackham (1867–1939). Over his career, Rackham illustrated a remarkable number of fairy tales and children’s stories, including Rip van Winkle (1905), Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), and Alice in Wonderland (1907). His images for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1908) are considered to be among the century’s greatest achievements in Shakespearean illustration.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The works of Mr. William Shakespear: in six volumes: adorn’d with cuts. Vol. 1. Edited by Nicholas Rowe. London: Jacob Tonson et al., 1709.
The tradition of Shakespeare editing begins with this book in 1709, with Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718) as the first named Shakespeare editor—but it also begins with illustrations. Even before readers begin with Rowe’s edition of The Tempest, they are presented with this striking copperplate engraving by Elisha Kirkall (c1682–1742), from a drawing by François Boitard (1670–c1715). The illustration shows The Tempest’s opening scene, in which spirits and a magical storm assail the ship and its panicked crew, while the barely noticeable Prospero orchestrates the action from the background. Note that the illustration doesn’t depict a contemporary staging of the play, but a scene from the reader’s imagination.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The comedies, histories & tragedies of William Shakespeare. Edited by Herbert Farjeon. Designed by Bruce Rogers, with various illustrators. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1939–1940.
These vivid colour illustrations by Arthur Rackham for A Midsummer Night’s Dream appear within the Limited Editions Club of New York’s 37-volume set of Shakespeare’s plays. Designed as a whole by Bruce Rogers (1870–1957), one of the 20th century’s greatest book designers, the roster of illustrators reads like a who’s-who of great book illustrators. This volume contains all of the illustrations together, with minimal text. Inside, the colourful world of Rackham’s Dream jostles against the modernist shadows of Edward Gordon Craig’s Hamlet, which juxtaposes yet again with the playful eroticism of Eric Gill’s Anne Boleyn from Henry VIII. To page through this volume is to experience a visual tour of the plays, with stylistic diversity to mirror Shakespeare’s own.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616). A midsummer-night’s dream. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. London: W. Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, Page, 1908. Shown with 1924 reprint.
If you close your eyes and imagine scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there’s a good chance that your imagination has already been primed with Arthur Rackham’s famous images, or echoes of them. Rackham’s illustrations for this 1908 edition (shown here with a 1924 reprint) are considered among the best ever made for Shakespeare both the colour plates and the simpler drawings that adorn passages such as the fairies’ song. Like the 1914 Heath-Robinson-illustrated Dream (shown in the flat case to your right), this volume shows how colour plates and other techniques turned early 20th-century books into rich visual, textual, and tactile experiences. Of all of Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream seems especially given to inspire great bookmaking.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The Play of Pericles Prince of Tyre. Edited & introduced by Crispin Elsted; illustrated with wood engravings by Simon Brett. [Mission, BC]: Barbarian Press, 2009-2010.
This award-winning edition of Pericles was published by Barbarian Press, based in Mission, BC, and operated by Crispin and Jan Elsted. Combining the editing and design talents of co-proprietor Crispin Elsted, calligraphy by Andrea Taylor, bindings by Hélène Francoeur, and over one hundred illustrations by Simon Brett, this remarkable book shows what can be accomplished by a small press working with quality materials and an adventurous approach. Brett’s illustrations evoke many of the conventions of modern graphic novels, and make brilliant use of the technique of wood engraving in service of visual storytelling.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Shakespeare’s Comedy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Illustrated by W. Heath Robinson. London: Constable, 1914.
The art bookbindings of Robert Wu not only enclose and protect books, but also reinterpret their themes and visual motifs. Wu’s 2012 treatment of A Midsummer Night’s Dream boasts a full French binding with a chemise, slipcase, opal inlays and onlays, and hand-marbled paper. The book he has rebound is a 1914 edition illustrated by the great English cartoonist W. Heath Robinson (1872–1944). The tiny figures that adorn Wu’s binding are taken individually from several of the 1914 Heath Robinson illustrations. The idea behind the design, as Wu describes it, is that ‘the viewer peeks through the bushes into the nightly sky and sees fairies frolic around the ribbons.’ Some of Wu’s designs are also displayed on the walls, allowing us to peek over the binder’s shoulder, as it were, while at work on the design.