“Rip Van Winkle”
Growing up, Rip Van Winkle was a celebrity, of sorts, in our house.
“Rip Van Winkle” is a watercolor, pen, and Indian ink illustration by the English illustrator, Arthur Rackham, from 1905. This is a color plate print from the 1905 publication. Rackham was one of the most prominent artists to come from the Golden Age of Illustration.
This image was accompanied with the following text, “Surely,” thought he, “I have not slept here all night…. Oh! that flagon! that wicked flagon! what excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle?”
In the late 1800s, Rackham made a name for himself as a talented black and white illustrator. He made the transition from black and white to color illustrations in the 1905 publication of Washington Irving’s, Rip Van Winkle, for which he made 51 watercolor, pen, and India ink illustrations to be used as color plates. Rackham’s delicate line work was well suited to folk and fairy tales, of which he illustrated a large number.
In Rip Van Winkle, Irving tells the tale of a Dutch American villager, Rip Van Winkle, who lives in the Kaatskill (Catskill) Mountains. When the story begins, he is young and married to Dame Van Winkle, a wife who constantly berates him about his laziness. Rip has a trusted dog, named Wolf, who is his constant companion. His wife regarded the two as “companions in idleness”.
To avoid his wife’s temper, Rip takes his gun and Wolf and hikes into the Catskill Mountains to hunt squirrels. He comes across a strange little man carrying a keg who calls to Rip Van Winkle by name, asking for help. Rip helps the man carry the keg into a natural amphitheater, where other strangle little man are playing a game of nine pins. He is directed to serve them drinks from the keg, which he does. Rip then takes a drink himself, and liking the taste, drinks more. He ends up getting drunk before falling into a deep sleep.
20 years later, Rip Van Winkle wakes up from his magic induced slumber. He is older, with a long gray beard and matching hair. His clothes are rags upon his body. Disoriented, he makes his way to the village to learn that the Revolutionary War happened, and America was now an independent country.
Rip Van Winkle can be read in its entirety at the internet archive online here.
For more on Arthur Rackham, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
