"His pictures; which seemed to me then [aged 13] to be the very music made visible; plunged me a few fathoms deeper into my delight. I have seldom coveted anything as I coveted that book." mdash; C.S. LewisBefore portraying Wagners "Ring;" Arthur Rackham (1867ndash;1939) had become Englands leading illustrator through his interpretations of fairy and fantastic books: Grimms Fairy Tales; Rip van Winkle; Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens; A Midsummer-Nights Dream. With his insight into elves; twisted oaks; and bearded heroes; Wagner was the logical step: with the "Ring;" Rackham brought his talent for ethereal watercolor and line into new realms of adult mythology.This edition reproduces; in full color; all 64 watercolor illustrations from Siegfried The Twilight of the Gods (1911) and The Rhinegold The Valkyrie (1912). The original English and American editions also contained black-and-white vignettes and tailpieces; a selection of which appear here: the original text; a dated English translation of the libretto; has been replaced by comprehensive descriptive captions and an introduction by James Spero.Rackham poured all his mature fancy into the "Ring." The gnarled Nibelung Alberich sports with teasing Rhinemaidens; fiery Loge and lordly Wotan tussle with giants and serpents. An ecstatic Bruuml;nnhilde is finally consumed on Siegfrieds funeral pyre in perhaps the most successful representation of this scene anywhere; either graphically or theatrically. Wagners Teutonic forests and caves give Rackham free reign for his brooding; haunting nature backgrounds; characters; costumes; and all the tiny details are painted with such textual accuracy and empathy that todays opera companies who wish to return to staging the "Ring" in the traditional manner turn to Rackhams paintings for guidance.The painstaking reproduction of these artworks brings Arthur Rackhams most heroic visions to the many collectors and admirers who cannot obtain the expensive out-of-print editions. With the aid of the clear captions; the Wagnerian cycle may be followed once again in its most time-honored and rich interpretation.
#1656487 in eBooks 2013-07-02 2013-07-02File Name: B00DBO3AHC
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five stars for the text (it "is" a classic after all); but the electronic edition is flawedBy Benjamin DaviesIf you know about this book(s) or the author; you probably dont need to be told its a must read. Though if you are beginning in the field; the text can be hard to grasp at times (it does help to have some background in Roman history and architecture to really appreciate this book; as there are no footnotes to provide this extra information).As for the electronic edition itself; it is somewhat poorly executed. Some characters were wrongly read by the OCR machine. It doesnt imper the reading much; but some more careful editing would have been welcomed; especially since the text can be found elsewhere for free.Overall; I would be searching for another electronic copy of Vitruvius works.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Romans were the bomb!By Louise S. PachecoVery informational and quite candid; funny how Romans thought that being an architect took little knowledge. Quote from the book;"If thy son be dull witted make him a page or an architect ".0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Readable translation for contemporary AmericansBy BrentI found the translation; done by a Harvard professor just before WW I; to be the easiest to understand. I also found the illustrations done by the translator to be very good and useful for comparison. A pity he didnt live long enough to complete the illustrations for the remainder of the book. Some of the illustrations arent real clear in the paperback version; so a serious student might want to consider the hard-cover version of the same translation.