Search Results: Arthurian from Thorn Books

London: Heinemann, 1966. First English edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. 8vo. 188pp. Blue textured paper over boards, gilt spine title. Map of Prydain double page frontispiece. Small bumps on the upper right corner of the upper board and on the spine tip, else a fine copy. The duswrapper is not clipped. There is offset on the rear panel from an early protective covering, faint crease to the upper panel, and some light soil, else the dustwrapper is near fine. The first title in Alexander's acclaimed Prydain Cycle. The American edition of this title was printed in 1964. This first in the series introduces Taran and the oracular pig, Hen Wen, and sets the stage for the Black Cauldron. .

Britsol: Printed and Sold by Felix Farley in Small-Street, et al., 1753. First edition. Hardcover. Very good. 8vo. except for the Prefaces, unpaginated. Contemporary full leather, old reback, black leather lettering label, gilt. Final advertising leaf present. Light wear to the hinges and edges and occasional soiling to the pages, but a very good copy. Contemporary signature of Edw. Leroy. Extensive annotations, additions and corrections throughout in the same hand. ESTC T66971. A second edition was printed in 1759. The British Language was an ancestral Celtic tongue spoken across what is now England and Wales until the Roman invasion, when it vied with Latin. It survived until the Arthurian era and has largely become modern Welsh and Breton. .

London: Early English Text Society, 1864. Hardcover. Near fine. Thin 8vo. viii,(1),19pp plus a single page glossary. Recent binding of quarter dark blue morocco, gilt spine title, deep blue sand-grain cloth. Inscribed by Furnivall on the half-title: 'The Rev. E. H. Knowles, with the Editor's compts. Octr. 20, 1864.' One of the early publications of the Society, this from a manuscript belonging to the Marquis of Bath. It is a Latin Chronicle; but, when he comes to Arthur, the chronicler breaks into English verse. A tiny repair to the top edge of the half-title else a fine copy.

var: var, 1985. Fine. In 1985, Dr., Monell hosted a traveling exhibit of books relating to the 500th anniversary of the publishing of Malory's Morte d'Arthur. Her are four items form that exhibit: 1. California State Library Foundation Bulletin, No, 12, which contains the illustrated text of Dr. Monell's speech in first edition. 2. Single page invitation to the opening of the Exhibit at the California State Library, Sacramento. 3. Finely printed broadside, 8½ by 11 inches. Printed letterpress by Saul Marks on his Albion Press for Dr. Monell's Special Exhibition of Arthuriana. Noteworthy for the use of Dr. Monell's original wood block cut by W. H. Hooper for the Ashendene Press edition of Malory in 1913. 4. Five Hundred Years of King Arthur, the Exhibition catalogue 20pp, illustrated, stapled wraps, one of 1000 copies of the first standalone edition (preceded by the Library Bulletin, above). .

St. Petersburg: Nikodim, 2019. Limited edition. Hardcover. Fine. Limited edition. Folio. 32pp. Red leather spine and edges, marbled paper boards, the upper boards impressed with an engraving of Camelot and with a title label printed in red. Thirteen scenes covering the Age of Arthur in sonnet form support the artist's powerful illustrations. The narrative begins with the boy Merlin, King Vortigern and the dragons, then continues through Uther & Ygraine, the Swords, Lancelot & Guinevere, Mordred and finally the unearthing of Arthur's casket at Glastonbury. This is not a book for children. The artist has graphically depicted the adultery of Uther and Ygraine and of Arthur and Morgause, and the seduction of Merlin by Nimue. The paper of the boards and slipcases was made and marbled by the artist, as was the text paper. Each page was etched in a series of background lines and shapes before the text was printed letterpress and the engraved images taken directly from the blocks. One of 20 copies,… Read More

Oak Grove, MN: MIchael E. Coughlin, 2019. Limited edition. Hardcover. Fine. 12mo. 32pp. Black cloth spine, red cloth boards, printed label on the upper board, deep red endpapers. Finely printed by Michael E. Coughlin on a Kluge platen press on Mohawsk Superfine Eggshell paper. The typeface is Garamond, and the drop caps are Trueheart. Frontispiece plate of the Glastonbury cross. In new condition. One of 90 numbered copies (from a total edition of 100) signed by the author and the printer. Thirteen scenes covering the Age of Arthur in sonnet form. The narrative begins with the boy Merlin, King Vortigern and the dragons, then continues through Uther & Ygraine, the Swords, Lancelot & Guinevere, Mordred and finally the unearthing of Arthur's casket at Glastonbury. .

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. First editions, first printings. Hardcover. Near fine. Four 4to volumes, all in original mustard-color cloth with spines and upper boards blocked in black, red and gilt., With black and white illustrations by Howard Pyle. This is essentially a near fine set. These titles have traditionally suffered cracked inner hinges because the textblock was too heavy for the binding structure. Here, the first, second, and fourth volumes have perfect inner hinges. The remaining volume, 'Launcelot', has a minor and nearly invisible repair to the front inner hinge. Overall this is a near fine set. Pyle's quintessential treatment of King Arthur. "The books are lavishly decorated with Beardsleyesque headpieces, tail pieces, and full-page pen-and-ink drawings featuring enigmatic ladies, neo-Gothic furnishings and complexly patterned dress and armor."--so does Muriel Whitaker describe this set in the Arthurian Encyclopedia. Gaines C-17, 19, 21 & 27. .

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1940. First US editions. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. 8vo. Original decorated blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, top edges stained red, fore-edges untrimmed. Small illustrations in the text by the author, endpapers of the first volume illustrated by Robert Lawson. Near fine copies with only traces of wear and age. None of the dustwrappers are price-clipped. The spines are lightly sunned, much less than usual. The have a little wear along the edges. The "Ill-Made Knight" lacks a small piece at the rear fold and the 'With in the Wood' lacks a small piece at the front fold. Otherwise, they are in near fine condition. The first three parts of "The Once and Future King". Fantasy Literature, p. 174. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 4A-266. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 54. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 20. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 1116. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature III, pp. 1149-57. In 333. Bleiler… Read More

Boston: Small, Maynard and Company, 1900. Hardcover. Very good. Four volumes, 12mo. Vellum spines, gilt; drab paper over boards. Dramas or Masques. Based on the printing dates and list of titles facing the title pages, Merlin is the first separate printing, revised from the version first published in 1891 in Launcelot and Guenevere. (BAL 9386) Guenevere was similarly revised from the 1891 edition, then printed by Stone and Kimball in 1895, and then in a printing by Small, Maynard in 1899. Our copy is dated 1900. (BAL 9382) Galahad (BAL 9387)and Taliesin (BAL 9391) are first printings. Overall these are very good examples with a little wear and scuffing to the paper. .

Manchester: John Rylands University Library, 1985. First edition. Stapled wraps. Very good. Stapled wraps with a woodcut design and titles on the upper cove. 60pp. Some illustrations. A very good copy. Stapled within is an airletter from the library's Keeper of Printed Books to Dr. Charles Monell thanking the Dr. for his donation of the catalogue of the US Arthurian exhibition. .

Oak Grove, MN: Michael E. Coughlin, 2019. Limited edition. Hardcover. Fine. 12mo. 32pp. Frontispiece of the Glasonbury Cross. Finely printed by Michael E. Coughlin on a Kluge platen press on Biblio paper. The typeface is Garamond, and the drop caps are Trueheart. One of 10 special copies hand-colored, bound in full scarlet morocco with the title in gilt on the upper board and the Glastonbury Cross in blind. Marbled endpapers. Signed by the printer and the author in the Colophon. A fine copy. Thirteen scenes covering the Age of Arthur in sonnet form. The narrative begins with the boy Merlin, King Vortigern and the dragons, then continues through Uther & Ygraine, the Swords, Lancelot & Guinevere, Mordred and finally the unearthing of Arthur's casket at Glastonbury. Additional lettered copies are available. Please inquire.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. First editions, first printings. Hardcover. Very good. Four 4to volumes, all in original mustard-color cloth with spines and upper boards blocked in black, red and gilt., With black and white illustrations by Howard Pyle. These titles have traditionally suffered cracked inner hinges because the textblock was too heavy for the binding structure. Here, the second and third volumes have perfect inner hinges. The remaining two have had minor and nearly invisible repairs to the inner hinges. Aside from this, there is minor wear at edges and spine tips, else this is a very good set. Pyle's quintessential treatment of King Arthur. "The books are lavishly decorated with Beardsleyesque headpieces, tail pieces, and full-page pen-and-ink drawings featuring enigmatic ladies, neo-Gothic furnishings and complexly patterned dress and armor."--so does Muriel Whitaker describe this set in the Arthurian Encyclopedia. Gaines C-17, 19, 21 & 27. .

Tucson: Thorn Books, 2022. Hardcover. Fine. 8vo. ix, (1), 83, (14)pp. Decorated boards. A fine copy. The first modern English translation of John Leland's 1544 Assertio, or assertion that King Arthur existed, a rebuttal of Polydore Vergil's History of England which pretty much reduced King Arthur to a myth. Illustrated with pages from the 1544 edition. Leland's Glossary of Ancient names expanded by the translator. Leland's dedication to Henry VIII is here published in English for the first time. .

London: Heorge G. Harrap & Co, 1917. First trade edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Small quarto. 120, [4] pp. With thirteen mounted color plates (included in pagination), and twenty-three pages of printed music. Copiously decorated with intertextual illustrations, initials, and borders throughout. These elements and the text printed in ochre and black. Contemporary half green morocco. Spine in six compartments, gilt, with five of the compartments tooled in an art deco pattern, the sixth with the title. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers in deep blues, greens and blacks. A fine copy. .

London: Heorge G. Harrap & Co, 1917. Limited edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Limited edition, No. 115 of 125 numbered copies, signed by Evelyn Paul. Small quarto. 120, [4] pp. With thirteen mounted color plates (included in pagination), and twenty-three pages of printed music. Copiously decorated with intertextual illustrations, initials, and borders throughout. These elements and the text printed in red and black. Original vellum, front board decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt, orange, and gray, decorative endpapers, top edge gilt, others uncut. Fore-edge of front free endpaper slightly wrinkled. Vellum slightly soiled, and boards with the slightest yawn, but overall a near fine copy.

London: Davud Nutt, 1887. Limited edition. Stiff card wraps. Near fine. 8vo. xx, 70 pp. Printed in black and red. Two engravings of the title persons. Stiff plain boards covered with a dustwrapper. Trace of soil to the wrapper but essentially a fine copy. With the engraved bookplate of Charles B, Foote, and a Blackwells bookseller ticket. One of 53 numbered copies from an edition of 63 on Japanese paper, and signed by David Nutt. This is copy No. 9. Housed in a green leather solander case, gilt spine titles. The leather is soiled, spine faded to brown, but still presents good appearance. Tne preliminary page states that the poem was translated in June, 1887, and printed in November, 1887. .

Kent: Ebenezer Press, 1969. Limited edition. Hardcover. Fine. Large folio, approximately 21 by 14¼ inches. English yew boards by George Coulter, Ltd., natural hide spine, gilt block lettering by Ted Robbins of the Royal College of Art Bookbinding. Sixteen loose folios of text and illustrations, each signed or initialed by the artist. A fine copy in the original purple cloth chemise, now a trifle sunned. Accompanied by the original prospectus approximately 14 by 20 inches and framed behind acrylic. A fine copy of Clarke's first hand printed artist book, memorializing a little known Arthurian legend.

Boston: Small, Maynard and Company, 1900. Hardcover. Very good. 12mo. Vellum spine, gilt; drab paper over boards. A Romantic Drama. A very good copy showing only light wear. First published in 1898, this is the second printing. BAL 9387. .

New York: Longman's, Green & Co, 1930. 4to. Publisher's yellow cloth with three green dragons on upper board, Illustrated endpapers. Full page black and white illustrations by Ferdinand Hustzi Hovrath, Stated first edition, but this is, in fact, the Junior Literary Guild edition, and so should be considered a second printing. The dustwrapper is present. Cloth lightly soiled else this is a very good example; the dustwrapper is rough along the edges with some rubbing and soil, but gives a very good impression. The flaps are clipped. A scarce edition and the more so in the dustwrapper which is nearly always absent. The second of Morris' fantasies based on the Mabinogion, after 'The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed' (1914). .

London: Wm. S. Orr and Co, 1845. First edition. Hardcover. Fine. 12mo. (14), 152pp. Finely bound by BIrdsall of Northampton and London in full scarlet morocco. Spine in six compartments, gilt; gilt rules on the boards; gilt inner dentelles; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; original covers bound in at rear. Chromolithographed frontispiece and title. Illustrated by Alfred Crowquill, A fine copy in a fine binding. The BIrdsall firm began in 1792 with the purchase by William Birdsall of John Lacy's bookbindery in Northampton. William's great-nephew, Anthony, bought the business in the 1840's and with his son Richard made it into one of the better binderies. The firm offered popular standard bindings as well as deluxe bindings and restoration work. After the second world war business declined. When it closed in 1961 is was the oldest firm in Northampton with an international reputation for fine binding and restorations. .