Arthur Rackham Sets Sail for China Seas Adventure

Though born in Adelaide, author Carlton Dawe spent most of his life in England after settling there permanently in 1892 following a youth filled with travel. While his early career saw poetry publications and a modestly received psychological novel written under the name William Dawe, Dawe found great success as a writer of popular adventure fiction starting with 1890’s The Golden Lake – a gold rush tale set in the Australian Outback.

Dawe’s exotic travels established Australia as a backdrop for many early works, while Asia also featured prominently in later romantic stories pairing European and Asian leads. Though churning out serial pulp stories, he published over 70 adventure novels addressing meaningful social issues until 1937, sometimes offering surprisingly progressive commentary against racism and anti-Semitism.

So while forgotten today, Dawe’s exotic colonial actioners made him a widely-read voice for Empire escapism tinged with sociopolitical nuance. It is likely this fusion of entertainment and commentary that attracted fantastical illustrator Arthur Rackham to provide a sole yet powerful nautical frontispiece for his 1897 Singapore-set thriller, Captain Castle: A Tale of the China Seas.

Format: Dark blue cloth binding with gold lettering (296 pages)

Size: 4 3⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches

Text: Captain Castle: A Tale of the China Seas by Carlton Dawe

Illustrations: Frontispiece halftone illustration by Arthur Rackham

Publisher: Smith, Elder & Co. (London)

Publication Date: 1897

Summary: Though providing the sole illustration within its pages, a maritime frontispiece painting by Arthur Rackham imports an air of fantasy to Captain Castle: A Tale of the China Seas upon its 1897 release. Penned by English novelist Carlton Dawe, known for imperial escapades in Asia, this high seas tale follows the naval commander Patrick Castle.

While sparing on visuals, Rackham’s atmospheric glimpse of a spectral figurehead conjures the exotic perils awaiting the protagonist upon Oriental waves. As Rackham began associated works like 1900’s Ching-Ching’s Voyage, this lonely piece captures his distinct style’s Genesis adaptability to seafaring quests and nautical mystery benath the clouds.

For comprehensiveness, Rackham collectors should anchor this scarce China Seas vision from an artist soon to sail far beyond terrestrial shores into fantasy’s uncharted depths.