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
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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