A colored illustration of a landscape with mountains in the distance and a stream in the foreground, alongside which gather a number of hastily robed women who had been bathing in the waters and were observed surreptitiously by elf-like figures crouched behind a rock

Arthur Rackham’s original illustration for Rip Van Winkle

A frightening figure perched in a tree looks down on a gathering of several white animals, including a fox, lion, bear, wolf, and rabbit, and nearby stands a young man in a plumed hat

Arthur Rackham’s original illustration for “The Two Brothers”

Colored illustration showing a log in water surrounded by grass and covered in leaping and swinging frogs.

Arthur Rackham (1867–1939)
“King Log,” illustration for Aesop’s “The Frogs Asking for a King”
Pen and ink with watercolor, 1917
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Spencer Collection

“King Log,” illustration for Aesop’s “The Frogs Asking for a King”

The frogs in Aesop’s fable are unable to appreciate the laissez-faire approach to rule taken by their “King Log,” who, since his thunderous arrival from above one day, has simply lain there. Now, as seen in Rackham’s lushly colored drawing displayed here, the frogs walk—and dance and play—all over him.

Most illustrations of this fable depict a different scene: the arrival of the next king, a stork, who is sent from on high after the frogs beg for a stronger ruler. No sooner does King Stork appear than he begins to catch and eat his new subjects. The moral? Beware of change for change’s sake; or Those who have liberty ought to keep it well.

Holding Division: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Spencer …

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