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THE NOBLE AND JOYOUS BOOK ENTYTLED LE MORTE D'ARTHUR.
Malory, Sir Thomas

- Chelsea : Ashendene Press 1913 - folio - full brown leather, five raised bands, titling in gilt, cloth clamshell box with leather spine label. - xxii, (ii), 300, (2) pages. - Order Nr. 107188 - Price: $ 7,500.00

Limited to 145 copies printed on hand-made paper and 8 on vellum; this is one of the paper copies (Descriptive Bibliography, no.XXVI; Franklin 102). Printed by hand by St. John Hornby. All but three of the illustrations were drawn by Charles M. Gere; the other three were drawn by Margaret Gere. Cut on wood by W.H. Hooper and J.B. Swain. The text was taken from Southey's reprint of 1817 of Caxton's edition. Reprints Caxton's foreword. "In this, for the first time, blue was used alternately with red for the large initials. The chapter-headings are all printed in red. For this book Graily Hewitt designed two or three alphabets of fine initials." Colin Franklin calls this "a marvellous achievement, a glorious book." Faintly written in the back is the name Leonard Baskin. As typical with this book, the original Brown cowhide binding has been recreated by a later binder (WB) with part of the original spine (lettering) inlaid on spine. Some rubbing along edges; minor fading of covers. Foxing along edges of free endpapers from turn-ins.The later clamshell box is faded.

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More On This Subject - -

> PRIVATE PRESS & FINE PRINTING, TWENTIETH CENTURY
> UNITED KINGDOM
> ASHENDENE PRESS
> HORNBY, C.H.STJOHN
> HEWITT, GRAILY
> GERE, C M.
> GERE, MARGARET
> CAXTON, WILLIAM

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> From the Collection of Arnold Leibowitz

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MESSAGES IN WOOD by Smith, Harold and Alma Printed in an edition limited to 103 numbered copies, this being a presentation copy to an unidentified printer with the ink signature of Harold and Alma Smith. Text includes wood engravings by Harold Smith that are accompanied by prose descriptions of the origin of each piece. Ephemera loosely inserted.