The Ingoldsby Legends is a collection of ghost stories, legends, myths and poetry written by Thomas Ingoldsby (pen name of Rev. Richard Harris Dalton Barham) who was a clergyman with a lot of free time. He devoted a large part of it to reading, exploring and writing all kinds of tales. According to the Ingoldsby Legends, his major literary legacy, he enjoyed medieval settings, supernatural events and a pinch of humor. Stories in prose and verse from the collection were first published as a series in magazines London Chronicle, Blackwood's Edinburgh's Magazine, Bentley's Miscellany (the largest part) and Colburn's New Monthly Magazine during the 1830s. As a book, they came out between 1840, 1842 and 1847 (posthumously) in three series.

The material was very thankful for illustration, so we can't be surprised to find some of the finest artists of the 19th century illustrating them. While the book eventually fell out of favor and is out of print for many decades now, it made a huge impact on writers and other creative people in the second part of the 19th century. Some of its illustrators were George Cruikshank, John Leech, and Arthur Rackham. First editions are valuable collectibles now, being worth at least several hundred dollars if they are in good condition.

This book was one of the yard stones in his artistic career. It's definitely one of his best works. We can see he was still experimenting a lot with different techniques (all based on his remarkable pen and ink pictures, of course). We can already recognize typical Rackham's greenish tones in colored pictures. There is also his signature humorous inclusion of his autoportrait among the characters in illustrations. And there are a few silhouettes (half a dozen, actually) which kind of obsessed him for some time much later in his career (masterfully executed in The Sleeping Beauty, for instance).

First Series

The Spectre of Tappington

The Nurse's Story

Patty Morgan, the Milkmaid's Story

Grey Dolphin

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The Ghost

The Cynotaph

Mrs Botherby's Story

Legend of Hamilton Tighe

The Witches' Frolic

Singular Passage in the Life of the Late Henry Harris, D.D.

​The Jackdaw of Rheims

A Lay of St Dunstan

A Lay of St Gengulphus

A Lay of St Odille

A Lay of St Nicholas

The Lady Rohesia

The Tragedy

Mr Barney Maguire's Account of the Coronation

The "Monstre" Balloon
Hon. Mr Sucklethumbkin's Story

Some Account of a New Play

Mr. Peters's Story

Second Series.

The Black Mousquetaire

Sir Rupert the Fearless

The Merchant of Venice

The Auto-Da-Fé

The Ingoldsby Penance

Netley Abbey
Fragment
Nell Cook

Nursery Reminiscences

Aunt Fanny

Misadventures at Margate

The Smuggler's Leap

Bloudie Jacke of Shrewsberrie

The Babes in The Wood

The Dead Drummer

A Row in an Omnibus (box)
The Lay of St Cuthbert

The Lay of St Aloys

The Lay of the Old Woman Clothed in Grey

Raising the Devil
The Lay of St Medard

Third Series

The Lord of Thoulouse

The Wedding-Day

The Blasphemer's Warning

The Brothers of Birchington

The Knight and the Lady

The House-Warming

The Forlorn One
Jerry Jarvis's Wig

Unsophisticated Wishes

Miscellaneous Poems

Hermann; or, the Broken Spear
Hints For an Historical Play
Marie Mignot
The Truants
The Poplar

New-Made Honour
My Letters
The Confession
Epigram
Song
Epigram
Song
As I Laye A-thynkynge

First edition of The Ingoldsby Legends with Rackham's illustrations was published in 1898, and this is a faithful presentation of it. But in one of the later reprints the artist included a few additional illustrations, change some old ones with new ones and most of existing pictures were thoroughly revised. One of the books from this edition was recently available to be bought on-line for 2.750 US dollars.

These 'extra pictures' are included from here on:

The frontispiece was an original addition.
Next illustrations were enhanced or replacements. First, the title page, which is slightly different (with an addition of the crow):

This small illustration / vignette was positioned in the area with lists of the stories and illustrations.

Hand of Glory.

Look at the clock!

Nell Cook

Nursery Reminiscences.

Misadventures at Margate

The House-Warming

The last illustration was an original addition to the edition from 1907 as well.

The text was also heavily revised for later editions, but we conclude our journey into the magical world of Rackham's graphic art here.

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