A r t & I l l u s t r a t i o n 90 The Magnificent Chiswick Press Faerie Queene, Lavishly Illustrated By Walter Crane 118. (CRANE, Walter, illustrator.) SPENSER, Edmund. Spenser’s Faerie Queene. London, 1897. Six volumes. Quarto, original pictorial blue cloth. $4200. Limited first book-form edition of Walter Crane’s “most ambitious project of book illustration” (Lacy, 103), one of 1000 large-paper copies, with 88 splendid full-page pen-and-ink line-cuts (two double-page), 135 illustrative head- and tailpieces by Crane, and six facsimile title pages from earlier editions. Originally published in the late 16th century, Spenser’s ambitious Arthurian allegory was the first epic that “both incorporated countless mythological and folkloric traditions and exemplified the careful design and poetic quality of written literature” (Clute & Grant, 890). Finely printed on handmade paper, the Chiswick Press edition, with notes and commentary by Thomas Wise, was originally issued in 19 parts (1894-96) and stands at the pinnacle of famous illustrator Walter Crane’s career. All front wrappers and six rear wrappers bound in, as issued. Massé, 47. Bookseller’s label of renowned New York antiquarian bookseller Philip C. Duschnes. Interiors clean and fine, a few corners bumped, some very minor rubbing. A lovely set in near-fine condition. “Simply The Best Set Of Illustrations Ever Done On The Crusades”: Doré’s Crusades, With 100 Folio Plates 117. (DORE, Gustave) MICHAUD, Joseph François. History of the Crusades. Philadelphia, circa 1880. Two volumes. Folio, contemporary three-quarter brown morocco. $3800. First American edition and first edition in English of Michaud’s History of the Crusades to appear with Gustave Doré’s illustrations, with 100 dramatic fullpage wood engravings by Doré. “Though the Crusades engravings are historical, they lose none of Doré’s normal personality and vigor. They are simply the best set of illustrations ever done on the Crusades” (Malan, 137). “On the general history of the Crusades the best single work is still J. Michaud, Histoire des Croisades” (Schaff-Herzog, 318). Michaud’s comprehensive Histoire des Croisades was first published in French in seven volumes between 1812 and 1822. The Doré-illustrated edition was first published in France in 1877; this first English-language edition (no edition was published in England—possibly due to Michaud’s less-than-reverent treatment of Richard the Lionheart) was first issued in parts from 1878-80, and then issued in book form by George Barrie of Philadelphia, with undated title pages, in two folio volumes measuring 11 by 15 inches, shortly thereafter. Malan, 287. Plates and text fine, only mild wear to contemporary morocco binding.
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