Search Results: Mythology from Rare Illustrated Books

London: F.S. Ellis, 1871. Night passed, day dawned, and we grew full of mirth As with the ever-rising wind Still farther lay our threatened death behind, Or so we thought : some eighty men we were, Of whom but fifty knew the shipman's gear, The rest were uplanders ; midst such of these As knew not of our quest, with promises Went Nicholas dealing florins round about, With still a fresh tale for each new man's doubt, Till all were fairly won or seemed to be To that strange desperate voyage o'er the sea." [The Earthly Paradise, prologue.] Fifth edition of parts one and two, and second edition of parts three and four. A fine set of Morris's third book, later published by the Kelmscott Press. Based on classical and medieval sources, The Earthly Paradise is best known for its introductory poems on each month of the year, perhaps for the way in which they reflect the beautiful textile designs of their creator, William Morris : ‘O fair midspring, besung so oft and oft, / How can I praise thy loveliness… Read More

London: Published by Philip Lee Warner at the Ricardi Press for the Medici Society, 1912. A deluxe and desirable edition of this treasury of Greek myths for younger readers, illustrated with stunning mounted plates by Russell Flint. A humble masterpiece of typographic taste and discretion. Numbered limited edition of 500 copies. Quarto, green cloth with paper labels, top-edge gilt and others uncut, 12 mounted colour plates (including the frontispiece); lacks one of the printed tissue-guards, bindings slightly marked but still a fine copy.

Sydney: Sunnybrook Press, no date. First Edition. Poem published by Australian poet and journalist, Kenneth Slessor (1901 -1971) in veneration of James Tyrell's wonderful old bookshop. "Broadsheets there are, of horrid hangman's tales; Yellow-stained maps from some forgotten book; Journals of convict years in New South Wales, And Captain Cook." [K.S.]. Single folded sheet, 250 mm x 153 mm, containing one printed poem, with an illustration of a seated monk reading, a very good example.

London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1920. First Edition. SCOTT, Tom.. This history of the Scottish border from Roman to recent times. A lovely example of the skilful printing and generous book design that characterise the works of the publishers T.C. & E.C. Jack. With six illustration plates in photogravure from paintings by Tom Scott, RSA. Small quarto, six photogravure plates including the frontispiece (printed tissue-guards extant), with generous margins, edges uncut at fore and base, bound in the original green cloth; scattered modest foxing, a very good copy.

San Francisco: Printed by Cecil and James Johnson at the Windsor Press, 1932. Limited Edition. ANGELO, Valenti. With a delicate decorated frontispiece by Valenti Angelo. Edition of 150 copies. Slim octavo, original papered boards, old bookseller's stamp on front endpaper, a near-fine copy of an elegant production.

Gregynog Press, 1931. Translated into rhyming verse by Gilbert Murray... with wood-engravings from the Greek vase paintings by Robert Ashwin Maynard and Horace Walter Bray. This magnificent and generously printed edition of Euripides is a testament to the composition, typography and production standards of the Greygnog Press. Numbered limited edition of 500 copies. Two volumes, folio, original russet cloth with gilt spine lettering and motif on front boards, fore and lower edges uncut, a fine set.

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911. First Edition. Florence Kate Kingsford Cockerell. First edition: an Egyptian fragment translated by Gilbert Murray. The classicist explains in his preface that "the origin of this tale is in Demotic Egyptian, in prose, on a fragmentary papyrus dated ‘the first month of winter, in the fifteenth year' of some king unnamed. Palaeographical evidence suggests some date about 100 B.C. ...it so fascinated me that I presently found myself, to the neglect of more urgent duties, putting it into English verse and filling up the gaps in the narrative." 'SETNE KHAMUAS, son of RAMESES, High Priest of PTAH, beneath his garden trees Dwelt with his wife and children; wise was he In Books of power and ancient Masteries. And much he pondered on a tale they told, How NEFREKEPTA, dead in days of old, Held still the Book of HERMES which is THOTH Hid in his tomb, and never loosed his hold...'. Quarto, uncut, with colour-printed frontispiece and woodcut tail-piece by Florence Kingsford… Read More