SIGNED + ETCHING: Marcus Behmer / M. Birnbaum - LIMITED ED. 'Arthur Rackham: A List of Books', compiled by F. Coykendall - 1922

‘Arthur Rackham: A List of Books Illustrated by Him’, compiled by Frederick Coykendall and with an introduction by Martin Birnbaum. A special presentation copy – inscribed by Birnbaum, and with an original signed etching by the German artist Marcus Behmer, carrying Birnbaum’s Christmas/New Year wishes (see notes further below) – of this early Rackham bibliography, issued in a tiny print run of just 175 copies and never reprinted. An elegant little volume, designed by the eminent typographer and book designer Bruce Rogers, with his device at the rear, and with an atmospheric portrait of Rackham plus two Rackham drawings (one previously unpublished) . EDITION DETAILS: Original vellum paper-covered boards, gilt lettering and decorations to upper board, page edges untrimmed, tissue-guarded photogravure portrait frontispiece with facsimile Rackham signature, 2 small drawings as headpieces, [6] + 22 pages, 22. 8 x 14 cm. First edition, 1922. Limited to 175 copies. Privately printed at the press of William Edwin Rudge, Mount Vernon, New York. Latimore & Haskell, p. 56. NOTES: Frederick Coykendall was an American businessman and book collector, whose portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. His Rackham list features an eleven-page ‘note of appreciation’ by Martin Birnbaum, an influential New York art critic and dealer. Birnbaum inscribes the book ‘lovingly to a friend’ (“Arthur Levi, amico amanter, Martin Birnbaum, 1922”) . The accompanying etching by Marcus Behmer – a notable illustrator, graphic designer and painter, well known for his ex libris, and much admired by Birnbaum, who wrote the catalogue for his first American show, in New York in 1912 – was one of at least three Christmas/New Year designs he produced for Birnbaum (two more, from 1925 and 1927, are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum) . Birnbaum notes, in his book ‘Jacovleff and Other Artists’ (1946) , that Behmer’s personal emblem was a playful dolphin, and a dolphin features prominently in the etching, just under Behmer’s initials. Also depicted are a pear tree and a stick-figure violinist – the first being a play on Birnbaum’s name (meaning ‘pear tree’ in German) ; the second referring to his love of the violin, which he played skilfully. The etching, affixed to the front pastedown, is signed by Behmer in pencil to the lower edge. CONDITION: Contents very clean. Usual offsetting from frontispiece plate, a few foxing spots, first pair of leaves unopened (still attached along upper edges, as issued) . Endpapers with slight soiling to edges; front endpapers with Birnbaum inscription and Behmer plate (as described above) , front hinge with small split. Binding tight, a little splayed. Boards and spine with discoloration and marks as shown, a few foxing spots, some surface wear (including a few small tears) , usual bumping, rubbing and wear to extremities; paper worn through to corners; head and foot of spine with a little loss. PLEASE NOTE that taxes and duties may be payable on receipt. Where possible I will combine shipping on multiple purchases.