Arthur Rackham Title Page Graces The Children and the Pictures

While not featuring extensive original artwork, Arthur Rackham contributed a single pen and ink drawing for the title page of art scholar Pamela Tennant’s 1907 release The Children and the Pictures – an early children’s book using old master fine art reproductions to teach artistic appreciation. Beyond Rackham’s decorative contribution, the 233 page volume contains 21 mounted color plates spotlighting celebrated works by titans spanning the Renaissance to Victorian eras, intended to foster young minds in cultivated aesthetics.

The book emerged amidst Rackham’s prolific years cementing fame through gift annual illustrations later credited with driving mass attribution of fine art. As debates concerning appropriateness of certain complex themes for innocent eyes persisted, Tennant’s book indicates Rackham and publishers believed youth possessed aptitude for comprehending uncensored images, entrusting their visual vocabularies conveying stories beyond words. For comprehensiveness, collectors should acquire Rackham completism including overlooked peripheral works revealing creative philosophies.

Format: Pink cloth binding with black decorative stamping (233 pages)

Size: 6 x 8 inches

Text: The Children and the Pictures By Pamela Tennant
Published in London by Mr. William Heinemann
And in New York by The Macmillan Company
1907

Illustrations: Title page drawing by Arthur Rackham; 21 color plates reproducing old master paintings

Publishers: William Heinemann (UK); Macmillan (US)

Publication Date: 1907

Beyond Rackham’s minor title page contribution, The Children and the Pictures intended to cultivate artistic discernment in youth through writer Pamela Tennant’s short vignettes and poems inspired by the 21 reproduced masterworks analyzing prominent painterly techniques and symbols. Spanning Renaissance portraiture to Victorian era social commentary, the selected images highlight greats like Joshua Reynolds, William Hogarth, Anthony Van Dyck, and Thomas Gainsborough.

A prominent Edwardian socialite, Lady Pamela Tennant né Wyndham married into aristocracy after befriending Oscar Wilde and Edward Burne-Jones amidst London aesthetic circles. Her advocacy for art appreciation aligned with Rackham’s publishing rise expanding exposure beyond wealth. As educational initiatives brought culture to the masses, Tennant’s contextualization of classics for children and Rackham’s visions in affordable editions jointly democratized access from drawing room walls toward imagination’s expanse where quality creations enchant every curious mind equally.