Rackham's illustrations perfectly capture the mystiical, ethereal nature of Wagner's operatic creation.

The first act of The Rhinegold opens with rocky cavern in a wood, in which stands a naturally formed smith's forge, with big bellows. Mime sits in front of the anvil, busily hammering at a sword.

'Slavery! worry!
Labour all lost!
The strongest sword
That ever I forged,
That the hands of giants
Fitly might wield,
This insolent urchin
For whom it is fashioned
Can snap in two at one stroke,
As if the thing were a toy!'

First Trade edition; 2 vols, 4to (260 x 200 mm); engraved title and 64 mounted colour plates with captioned tissue-guards by Rackham, a couple quires slip at hinges but sound, some very mild offsetting from tissue-guards (much less than usual), creasing to blank upper corners of pp 1-3 and a couple of leaves slightly roughly cut in the first vol., a couple of marks to blank margins of p.86 in vol. ii, otherwise very good; publisher's original tan cloth, illustrated and titled gilt blocks to both upper covers, gilt titled spines, mildly rubbed at extremities with mild, minor soiling, otherwise very good and still bright; [WITH] advertisement leaf laid in, printed in red, announcing the sale of the original water-colour drawings by Rackham at the Leicester Galleries.