Kenneth Grahame's Illustrators' Archive to Auction

Items from the comprehensive Kenneth Grahame collection of rare book dealer David J. Holmes will go under the hammer at Swann Galleries' Illustration Art auction tomorrow (June 18).

Described by the auction house as "the finest private collection of Grahame material ever formed" and the focus of a 2008 Grolier Club exhibition, the archive documents the life, creative process, and literary legacy of the author of The Wind in the Willows including letters, manuscripts, first editions, and related material.

It is particularly strong on original artwork by Ernest H. Shepard and highlights include:

• 12 drawings by Shepard to illustrate Dream Days (1930), mostly pen and ink on board and paper, including a copy of the Wayfarers All program for Grollier Club exhibition (London, John Lane The Bodley Head Limited, 1930), and page 54 of the 1948 edition (estimate: $4,000-$6,000)
• As he sat on the grass and looked across the river..., illustration on page 4 of The Wind in the Willows (London, Methuen & Company, Ltd., 1931) by Shepard, pen and ink on board, signed and dated in lower right with inscription, "New drawing for Title page" (estimate: $10,000-$15,000)
• H. Mole lift-operator, pen and ink by Shepard, initialled in lower right, published on p. 25 of Bertie's Escapade (Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1949) which was written before The Wind in the Willows for a children's magazine whose editors included Grahame's son, Alastair - the lift-operator in Bertie's Escapade is a forerunner of the more famous mole character (estimate: $6,000-$8,000)

The sale also features Arthur Rackham's unsigned pen and ink preparatory sketch of a riverside scene, circa 1940, for, but not published in, the 1940 Limited Editions Club version of The Wind in the Willows (estimate: $800-$1,200).

Among other items is an orginal illustration for the first edition of Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Chicago: George M. Hill, 1900) by William Denslow, Once in a while she would pass a house... This pen and ink over a graphite underdrawing on Strathmore board is signed "Den" and with seahorse monogram (estimate: $30,000-$50,000) and shows the moment when Dorothy first enjoys the Munchkin countryside. Most of Denslow's original drawings for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz are held in the Print Collection of the New York Public Library, so extant examples in private hands are verty rare.