His first book illustrations were published in 1893 in To the Other Side by Thomas Rhodes, but his first serious commission was in 1894 for The Dolly Dialogues, the collected sketches of Anthony Hope, who later went on to write The Prisoner of Zenda. In 1892, he left his job and started working for the Westminster Budget as a reporter and illustrator. At the age of 18, he worked as an insurance clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art. In 1884, at the age of 17, he was sent on an ocean voyage to Australia to improve his fragile health, accompanied by two aunts. Rackham was born at 210 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, London as one of 12 children. His best-known works also include the illustrations for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Rackham's 51 colour pieces for the early American tale Rip Van Winkle became a turning point in the production of books since – through colour-separated printing – it featured the accurate reproduction of colour artwork.

His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolour, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. One of Rackham's illustrations to Das Rheingold, 1910, depicting Fasolt and Fafner seizing FreiaĪrthur Rackham RWS (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator.

Rackham peter pan