The Folio Society Limited Edition Catalogue 2012/13

golden cockerel press � oakking henry viii � woven silk� samuel taylor coleridgeking james bible � gilt edgesjapan � david attenboroughphotographs � flower prints22-carat gold � lewis carrollapocalypse � marbled paperroyal manuscripts � virgilbodleian library � etchingwalter crane � arts & craftschiyogami paper � engravingdiogo homem � letterpressjust so stories � shakespearesilk velvet � hand-made paperfitzwilliam museum � vellummedieval manuscripts � titianthe folio society limited editionscanterbury tales � eric gillmappa mundi � ancient marineralice � gulliver’s travelsleather binding � moby-dickbritish museum � captain scott

THE FOLIO SOCIETY

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CONTENTS

There are other fine art publishers who create impeccable facsimiles of existingtreasures. There are also other publishers who pride themselves on creating their ownfine editions. However, The Folio Society is perhaps unique in its leading position in

both these fields. In recent years we have embarked on ever more ambitious and significantprojects, such as Leaves from a Psalter, the first ever true facsimile of a medieval work printedon real vellum, and an edition of The Sound and the Fury with multi-coloured text, just soldout at the time of writing.

Gathered here you will find exact facsimiles of precious books, such as The Fitzwilliam Bookof Hours and The Temple of Flora, that offer a unique opportunity to appreciate these greatworks of art at first hand. There are special new editions for which we have commissionedleading artists and craftsmen, to create books that represent a legacy for future generations.Just So Stories joins our growing list of collector’s editions, with a hand-printed etching by theartist. It would be impossible to feature all of the craft processes that go into creating theseeditions, but we have drawn your attention to many of them.

Other gems within these pages include a photographic masterpiece from 19th-century Japan,the magazine created by Scott and his men in Antarctica, and the personal prayer book ofHenry VIII. I hope you enjoy reading about them, and experience the pleasure of owning onefor yourself.

Joe Whitlock BlundellProduction Director of The Folio Society

4–5 • Japan, Described and Illustrated by the Japanese

6–7 • Just So Stories ~ Alice’s Adventures under Ground

8–9 • South Polar Times ~ Moby-Dick

10–11 • The Temple of Flora

12–13 • Gulliver’s Travels

14–15 • Sharpe’s Birds of Paradise

16–17 • The Letterpress Shakespeare

18–19 • Leaves from a Psalter

20–21 • Liber Bestiarum ~ The Getty Apocalypse

22–23 • The Fitzwilliam Book of Hours ~ The Queen Mary Atlas

24–25 • The Canterbury Tales ~ Troilus & Criseyde

26–27 • King Henry’s Prayer Book ~ The Royal Choirbook ~ Angliae Figura

28–29 • The Hereford World Map

30–31 • The Faerie Queene

32–33 • Metamorphoses ~ Aeneid

34–35 • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ~ The King James Bible

FOLIO SOCIETY LIMITED EDITIONS

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At the end of the 19th century, a craze for all things Japanese spread over the Westernworld. After two centuries of self-imposed seclusion, the country had begun to open

up to outside eyes, and its art and craftwork were eagerly sought after by collectors andartists. Japonisme was described by the writer George Augustus Sala as ‘a sort of religion’.In the 1890s the J. B. Millet Company of Boston embarked upon an extraordinarypublishing venture: a complete pictorial record of the country, entitled Japan, Described andIllustrated by the Japanese. This landmark photographic work has now been reproduced inits entirety by The Folio Society.

Japan is one of the most opulent photographic booksever produced and provides an insight into a bygone era.More than 250 hand-coloured images show buildings andlandscapes, from the grandeur of Mount Fuji to cherryblossoms at Koganei, as well as Japan’s inhabitants: streetvendors, calligraphers, lantern-makers, geishas andBuddhist monks. The creation of these volumes waspainstaking and astonishingly labour-intensive, with eachphotograph individually printed, washed, fixed, croppedand pasted onto the page. The most distinctive featurewas the hand-colouring, a technique that had largelybeen replaced by colour printing and was seen as moretraditional and prestigious. Altogether, Japanrepresented an enterprise of enormous scale andambition, with an approximate production cost of$200,000, equivalent to millions today.

This limited edition is the first ever reproduction toshow all 259 original photographs, ten flower collotypesand ten art prints, at their actual size, together with thecomplete text. The photographs have been reproducedusing the best available prints from two different copies,one in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, and theother acquired at auction by The Folio Society.

The striking binding design is based on that of the‘Emperor’ edition of 1897. The endpapers are made ofChiyogami paper, hand-printed in Japan. David Perkins,who has conducted extensive research into Japan at theUniversity of Manchester, has contributed a historicalessay. In it, he pays tribute to ‘a book which seems tolook simultaneously back and forward, and as such isendlessly fascinating as well as extraordinarily beautiful’.

JAPAN, DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE JAPANESE

Limited to 980 copies. Two volumes. Bound in full cloth,blocked in three colours with a design by Neil Gower, basedon the ‘Emperor edition’. Gilded on all three page edges. 616pages in total. 16" x 12½". Presented in cloth-bound slipcasesblocked in gold foil.


ENDPAPERSThese gorgeous endpapers use Chiyogami paper,handmade in Japan. First appearing during the Edoperiod, Chiyogami paper is silk-screen printed withtraditional Japanese designs inspired by kimonos. Thepaper is made from vegetable crops that are washed,beaten and then shaken onto a tray and left to dry. Theresulting paper is not only very beautiful, butexceptionally strong – making it perfect for endpapers tohold the pages securely in the binding.


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COMMISSIONED ILLUSTRATIONSThough the Just So Stories were first published duringthe golden age of children’s book illustration, no editionhas attempted to illuminate Kipling’s prose in the richillustrative style that thrived in his day. For this collector’sedition, The Folio Society approached Niroot Puttapipat– a contemporary artist working in the tradition of thegreat illustrators of the early 20th century.

JUST SO STORIES

Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories are among the most inventive and original of allchildren’s fiction. Posing ingenious explanations of how animals gained their

characteristics and revelling in exuberant wordplay, they are the work of a masterstoryteller. Kipling began inventing stories about how leopards got their spots and camelstheir humps to entertain his children – in particular his eldest daughter, Josephine, who diedin 1899 aged six. When he wrote down the stories for publication in 1902, he rememberedher with the phrase ‘Best Beloved’.

This special limited edition includes all 12 iconic tales, as well as ‘The Tabu Tale’, whose excitable heroine,Taffy, is based on Josephine. In ‘The Beginning of theArmadilloes’, an unlikely alliance between a hedgehogand a tortoise leads to a new species. The Elephant’sChild, full of ‘’satiable curtiosity’, travels to the ‘greatgrey-green, greasy Limpopo River’ to find out what theCrocodile eats for dinner, and inadvertently returnshome with a useful extension to his nose.

Former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo haswritten a deeply affectionate introduction. Recalling his experience of hearing the stories at bedtime as achild, he says, ‘Kipling and my mother, between them,could make words laugh off the page.’ Indeed, fewwords swoop and dive and trip off the tongue asKipling’s do. His stories abound with droll turns ofphrase and sing-song repetitions, from the man wholived ‘cavily in a Cave’ to the ‘Superior Comestible’ that ‘smelt most sentimental’.

Niroot Puttapipat has created 14 exquisite paintings,which have been printed with gold borders and tippedin as colour plates. They are complemented by pictorialendpapers and nine pen-and-ink tailpieces. Each copycontains a special limitation spread. Printed letterpress,with a hand-printed, tipped-in etching, bearing thelimitation number and the artist’s signature, this is theperfect finishing touch to this superb collector’s edition.


‘Without this book it is unlikely that Iwould ever have become a reader, let

alone a story-maker myself’

michael morpurgo

Limited to 1,000 copies. Vellum quarter-binding blocked in22-carat gold with vellum tips and paper sides blocked infour metallic foils. Gilded top edge. Endpapers printed with adesign by Niroot Puttapipat. Printed on Cordier Wove. 204pages. Presented in a solander box. 13" x 9¾".

Alice’s Adventures under Ground is a priceless pieceof literary history: the original manuscript version

of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carrollfirst conceived the story one summer’s day in 1862.Over the next two years he wrote it out by hand,illustrating it with his own drawings. He had it bound inmorocco leather and presented it to the young AliceLiddell as a Christmas gift in 1864.

Reading this early version gives us a fascinating insightinto the creation of a classic. Alice plays croquet with anostrich, not a flamingo, and there is a Marchioness ofMock Turtles instead of a Duchess. John Tenniel’sillustrations were clearly closely modelled on Carroll’s 37 lively, imaginative originals.

ALICE’S ADVENTURES UNDER GROUND

Limited to 3,750 copies. Bound in leather. Gilding on all threeedges. 96 pages. 7½" x 5". Presented in a box blocked with adesign by Neil Gower and inset with a photograph; with anaccompanying essay ‘The Original Alice’, by Sally Brown, Curatorof Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library.


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PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIPSThe Folio Society, in partnership with the RoyalGeographical Society, the British Library and theScott Polar Research Institute, has published thefirst ever facsimile of all 12 individual volumes ofthe South Polar Times in a single collection. Thisedition commemorates the 100th anniversary ofthe Terra Nova expedition.


To raise their spirits during the long Antarcticwinters, Captain Scott and the members of his

Discovery and Terra Nova expeditions created amagazine unlike any other: the South Polar Times. Eachhand-typed issue contained a range of articles and wascopiously illustrated with paintings, sketches, maps andphotographs. They contain a mixture of the ‘grave andgay’, serious reports on the weather or fauna interspersedwith cartoons, songs and articles that gently poke fun atmembers of the expedition. Together the material givesan unsurpassed sense of the community: legendarypersonalities such as Scott, Shackleton and Cherry-Garrard, as well as scientists and ordinary seamen, all ofwhom had been inspired to risk their lives in the mostinhospitable place on the globe. The set is accompaniedby a fascinating commentary by Ann Savours, theacknowledged authority on Polar publishing.

SOUTH POLAR TIMES

Limited to 1,000 copies. 12 issues, reproduced as individualvolumes. Pages sewn and bound in card. Printed in full colourwith a tipped-in fold-out map and tracing paper. 1,224 pagesin total. 10¾" x 8". Presented in a cloth-covered box withcommentary volume.

MOBY~DICK

Limited to 1,750 copies. Bound in leather. Silvered top edge.Ribbon marker. 768 pages. 9½" x 6¾". Presented together withcommentary volume in a solander box.

The quintessential American epic, Moby-Dick is amonumental tale of the hunt for the great white

whale led by the vengeful Captain Ahab. But it is also avivid meditation on American society, taking in thewider themes of nature, religion, war, history andcivilisation. Herman Melville combines the humour ofDickens, the richness of Shakespeare and the cadences ofthe Bible, in an exhilarating style that is all his own.

‘Commands a stillness in the soul, an awe …One of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world’ d. h. lawrence

Rockwell Kent was an engraver, lithographer, illustratorand author who shared Melville’s visionary outlook.Over 280 celebrated illustrations from the 1930 editionare reproduced here. The book is accompanied by afascinating 312-page commentary by the Americanscholar Harold Beaver, which incorporates a fullbiographical section on Melville, as well as an invaluableguide to the novel’s rich literary and biblical references.


The finest of all English flower books, this exquisite work of botanical art was thebrainchild of physician and lecturer in medical botany Robert Thornton. Its exotic

beauty, dramatic composition and the sheer quality of the art have made this a legendarywork. This limited edition is the first to reproduce the original in full facsimile.

Limited to 600 copies. Quarter-bound in leather with cloth sidesprinted and blocked with a design by David Eccles. Ribbonmarker, coloured top edge. 232 pages in total. 22½" x 18¼".Accompanied by a commentary volume by Stephen Harris.Presented in a solander box, together with two prints eachmeasuring 22” x 17¾”.

THE TEMPLE OF FLORA

Thornton was determined to outdo all previousbotanical works. Starting in 1799, he commissioned thevery best artists to paint flowers, especially the exoticblooms which were being brought back to England atthe time. He chose craftsmen who used the mostadvanced engraving techniques of the day: stippleengraving, mezzotint and aquatint, which allowedsubtleties of tonal shading without cross-hatching, andeven permitted washes of colour to be printed. Suchtechniques were extremely time-consuming andexpensive. After engraving the plates werehand-coloured, making every copy unique.

A work of breathtaking beauty was produced, butThornton’s ambition outstripped his resources and theproject left him penniless. Today, rare first editions canfetch upwards of £80,000 at auction, with individualprints selling for between £2,500 and £5,000. For theirwork on The Temple of Flora, Beacon Press won theFine Art Printer of the Year Award in 2008. The Templeof Flora was also winner of the Best British Book in theBritish Book Design and Production Awards 2008.Each copy is accompanied by two complimentary artprints for framing: ‘A Group of Tulips’ (pictured right)and ‘The Blue Egyptian Water-Lily’.


‘This is a wonderful collector’sopportunity, published at a remarkablyreasonable price. The quality ofreproduction is astonishing’

james stourton Chairman of Sotheby’s UK

RESTORATIONHaving purchased a rare copy at auction, The Folio Society wasable to unbind and scan the original pages to provide the mostaccurate reproduction of the 29 flower illustrations and rarelyseen preliminary plates, five of which are in colour, nine inmonochrome. Months of work were required in order to ‘clean’years of accumulated wear and restore the subtlety of colourand fineness of line in the original engravings.



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GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

LIMITED EDITION ETCHINGThe etching (pictured, top) was printed on hand-torn,mould-made paper, at Pauper’s Press, a specialist fine art printer in London. Peter Suart then approved,numbered and signed each print individually, and theetching was tipped by hand into a border blocked inblack and gold foils.

The master satirist of his age, Jonathan Swift was the scourge ofcontemporary society and an inspiration for other writers from Voltaire

to the present day. In this, his greatest work, Swift targets not only theEstablishment, but humanity itself: after listening to Gulliver describe humanbeings, the King of Brobdingnag declares them ‘the most pernicious race oflittle odious vermin’.

For this collector’s edition, The Folio Society approachedthe artist and writer Peter Suart, whose response is atonce wickedly comic and engagingly cerebral. Theillustrations are tipped by hand onto a page printed witha golden border designed by the artist. In total Suart hasproduced 17 watercolours, numerous pen-and-inktailpieces, endpapers and one special etching,hand-numbered and signed, for the opening limitationspread. Each painting provides clues and sly allusions – a visual puzzle that will entertain and delight the reader.

Limited to 1,000 copies. Quarter-bound in vellum with vellumtips. Front board blocked with a design in gold and three colours.Gilded top edge. Ribbon marker. Printed on Cordier Wove paper.288 pages. 13" x 9¾". Presented in a solander box.


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FOIL BLOCKINGThe stunning binding design was created byNeil Gower, who based it on Sharpe’s plate ofthe Augusta-Victoria Bird of Paradise (left). Thedesign requires two brass dies. The first dieheat-presses orange foil into the cloth, and, aftera brief pause, the gold foil is blocked on top. Thecloth and leather are then glued onto the boardsto form the case, and a final ‘blind’ blocking passforms the distinctive seal between the two.

At the end of the 19th century, Richard Bowdler Sharpe published his Monograph of the Paradiseidae and Ptilonorhynchidae. Dedicated entirely to birds of paradise and

bower-birds, it is one of the greatest bird books and, for many, the most beautiful evercreated. This Folio Society facsimile does full justice to this ornithological and artistictriumph. All 79 plates are reproduced at their actual size for the first time in book form and with a sumptuous binding.

Limited to 1,000 copies. Quarter-bound in leather. Gilded topedge. Ribbon marker. 79 colour plates. 21½" x 15". Presentedin a cloth-bound slipcase blocked in gold foil. Commentaryvolume bound in cloth. 292 pages. 9½" x 6¼". Presented in aseparate slipcase.

SHARPE’S BIRDS OF PARADISE

At the time Sharpe’s book was produced, lithographicplate reproduction had reached its peak of subtlety andprecision. With their extravagant, sweeping plumage andglorious iridescent colours, birds of paradise appearalmost mythical, and the illustrations showed them inradiant colour and exquisite detail. Their beauty isbreathtaking – from the Great Sickle-billed Bird ofParadise, with its shimmering plumage and long,sweeping tail feathers, to the Emperor Bird of Paradise,with its foamy white and golden plumage. Each plate washand-coloured to a quality and sophistication that markthe culmination of a great tradition, evincing skills thatmodern practitioners find impossible to match.

David Attenborough has written a foreword to thisFolio Society edition, in which he gives a fascinatingaccount of the spell these birds have cast across thecenturies. He first came across Sharpe’s book as a boyand declares, ‘I was astounded then by the birds’ beauty.And I am in thrall to them still.’ Accompanying thebook of plates is a commentary volume with Sharpe’scomplete original text, and an introduction by thepainter and naturalist Errol Fuller.


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‘The Folio Society has produced a truly remarkable edition of one of the greatest of all bird books’

david attenborough


THE LETTERPRESS SHAKESPEARE

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Five years ago, The Folio Society embarked upon avery special enterprise: creating the ultimate reading

editions of Shakespeare’s plays, printed in letterpress.Beginning with the four great tragedies, the series is nowset to conclude in 2014 with the publication of the wholecanon. The Letterpress Shakespeare will be the greatestsingle project that any of our craftsmen are likely to workon in their lifetimes.

Though common in Shakespeare’s day, letterpressprinting is now the preserve of just a handful of privatepresses. The metal type is impressed into the heavy,luxurious paper, giving an unrivalled tactile, sensualquality. The text is set in ‘Monotype’ Baskerville, using alarge font size and elegant design. The notes, appendicesand introductions are all confined to a separate volume,meaning that the page remains uncluttered andharmonious. Half-bound by hand in goatskin leather,with hand-marbled paper sides, top-edge gilding and22-carat gold-blocked spines, these are simply the mostbeautiful editions of Shakespeare available.

The text for the Letterpress Shakespeare follows the latesteditions from Oxford University Press, overseen byGeneral Editor Stanley Wells. Each volume isaccompanied by a commentary containing a fullyannotated text. We have published 28 titles to date,including all the major tragedies (bound in red), comedies(bound in green), histories (bound in blue) and theSonnets & Poems (bound in turquoise). For a completelist, please refer to your order form or visit us online atwww.foliosociety.com/letterpress.

‘I can’t think of any other publisher who wouldembark on a project of this size and quality’

phil abel, master printer of Hand & Eye Letterpress


17FROM TYPESETTING TO BINDINGIn letterpress printing, the text is keyed by skilledcompositors and cast in hot metal type. Printing justone of these limited editions involves 8 hours a dayof intense labour for around 6 weeks. After printing,the type is melted down, meaning that this editionwill never appear again.

The edition is printed on luxurious, thick paper with a high rag content, made in Germany by the Zerkallmill. Founded in 1903, the mill is still run by the samefamily. The paper dries slowly on a mould, whichgives each page its distinctive deckle edge.

The binding’s hand-marbled paper is made at thesmall craft workshop of Jemma Lewis in Wiltshire.Droplets of oil are floated on the sides, combed intopatterns and the paper is then rolled across them.Since each pattern is different, every volume is unique.

The leather quarter-binding uses the finest Nigeriangoatskin from the craft tannery of Harmatan inNorthamptonshire. The books are bound in theLachenmeier bindery in Germany. Each case isassembled by hand: gold titles blocked, top edgegilded, spines rounded and the final book cased in,using centuries-old methods for a book that will lastfor generations.

Finally, each edition is hand-numbered andpresented together with a commentary volume in a buckram-bound solander box.


reproduced at actual size


LEAVES FROM A PSALTER

The great illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages were all painted on vellum. As thin aspaper, but quite different to the touch, it has a marvellous tactile quality and is also very

durable. The Folio Society is proud to announce the publication of the first ever true facsimileof a medieval work printed on real vellum: Leaves from a Psalter by William de Brailes.

De Brailes was at the forefront of a great artistic flourishing in 13th-century England, and wasone of the few illuminators to sign his name on his work. His consummate skill is evidenced inseven leaves that survive from a Psalter completed around 1240. Six of the leaves (Fall of the RebelAngels; Scenes from Adam, Cain and Abel; Last Judgement; Wheel of Fortune; Christ and David;Tree of Jesse) belong to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the seventh (Early Life ofChrist) to the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. They are characterised by originality ofdesign and precise execution, and also reveal a deep knowledge of biblical iconography. Theleaves are now restored to their original glory, glowing with deep gold and subtle colours, andprinted on vellum using a patented process by Grafiche Damiani for The Folio Society.

The printing process consists of five separate stages. First abase layer is printed, similar to the ground applied bymedieval artists. This is followed by the colours. The thirdstage is the application of the gold, slightly raised from thesurface of the parchment to emulate the originals. Next, afurther printing over the gold reproduces the patina of age.In the final stage, the sheets are blocked with an exactreplica of the intricate tooling patterns. The result is afacsimile that has surpassed all expectations.

‘This is much more than afacsimile – it brings the

original back to life’

stella panayotovaKeeper of Manuscripts and

Rare Books at the Fitzwilliam Museum

Limited to 480 copies. Seven leaves, printed on vellum.Presented in bevelled window mounts: 12½" x 9¾". Solander boxbound in buckram, with vellum spine label. Limitation plate writtenand hand-numbered by David Eccles. Commentary volume byNigel J.Morgan bound in buckram, presented in a slipcase. 128pages with 8 pages of plates. 9 ½" x 6 ¼".

VELLUMAt the tannery of Santa Croce in Tuscany, sheep, goatand calf skins are still prepared as vellum in a way thatmedieval craftsmen would recognise. The skins arewashed in water and lime in huge barrels before beingstretched and scraped using a lunellum.


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Limited to 1,980 copies. Bound in leather blocked in gold andcoloured foils with a design by David Eccles, and with raisedbands on the spine. Gilding on all three edges. Ribbon marker.282 pages. 12" x 7¾". Accompanied by a commentary volumeby Richard Barber and Christopher de Hamel. Presented in asolander box.

Dating from around 1250 and now housed in the Bodleian Library, LiberBestiarum is one of the most charming and exquisite of medieval

bestiaries. It is unusual for its depiction of scenes of animals interacting with thehuman world, from the noble lady out hawking with her servants to a knight on

horseback abducting a tiger cub.When we look today atthe rich ornamentation in worked gold and the intimacyof the 135 miniatures, we can sense the pleasure the artisttook in this work and the delight with which thecompleted manuscript was first received.

To create this beautiful reproduction, The Folio Societyemployed the latest technological advances in facsimileproduction. The result is extraordinary, with the gleaminggold, the vivid, colourful miniatures and the handsomescript of the original fully replicated. The facsimile isaccompanied by a complete translation of the Latin textby Richard Barber and a sparkling commentary byChristopher de Hamel, who suggests that, with itsentertaining stories and humorous illustrations, thisbestiary may have been designed as a first learning bookfor a noble child.

‘One of the most appealingand exquisite of English

medieval books ... a bookof wonders, in every sense’

christopher de hamel

LIBER BESTIARUM


In the mid-13th century, as influential preachers predicted the end of theworld, there was a surge in demand for illuminated manuscripts of

Revelation, known as the Apocalypse of John the Divine. Among thesurviving manuscripts, one of the very finest is held by the Getty Museum inLos Angeles, here presented in facsimile for the first time.

Over 80 magnificent miniatures set in succession above the text create aglorious visual narrative, leading the viewer through the poetic, dramaticvision of the Apocalypse. They are amongst the most beautiful of medievalminiatures: exquisitely delineated in tinted colour embellished with gold andsilver leaf. Each shows the hand of a master artist possessed of an unerringsense of composition, a wonderful understanding of colour, and a rare abilityto express emotion through gesture and expression. A key feature of the GettyApocalypse is its frequent use of historiated initials – 42 in total. Some arereligious, some secular, from an acrobat to Aesop’s fables.

All facsimiles require technically demanding photographyand digital reproduction, but this Apocalypse called uponspecialist skills to reproduce the lavish use of gold andsilver leaf with metallic foil, which has then beenover-printed to reduce its glare and give it the effect ofage. Other finishing touches include folding and sewingthe pages in ‘shuffled’ sections in order to reproduce theirregular finish, and hand-blocking the decoration on thespine in gold. The result is an impeccable facsimile of amedieval masterpiece.

THE GETTY APOCALYPSE

WORLD-CLASS SCHOLARSHIPOur commentary volumes are specially commissionedfrom leading academics. Professor Nigel J. Morgan isthe acknowledged expert on the English Apocalypsetraditions. He has provided the first full translation ofthe text, a full background to the Apocalypse inmedieval art, and analysis of the imagery used.

Limited to 1,000 copies. Quarter-bound in leather with printedpaper sides blocked in four colours with a design by DavidEccles. Gilded and shuffled page edges. Ribbon marker. 92pages. 12¾" x 9". Accompanied by a commentary volume byNigel J. Morgan. Presented in a solander box.


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Created around 1510, at the apogee of the great age ofFlemish illumination, this manuscript is a superb

example of the luxurious and exquisite Books of Hours ofthe 16th century. With 63 full-page miniatures and over350 borders, it is both lavish and flawlessly preserved.Rich trompe l’œil effects provide a feast for the eye:painted shadows make it seem as if insects, flowers andberries are liberally scattered across the page. Even thecommonest decorated initial is a masterpiece in miniature,while the script has been created in a particularly beautifulcursive – the lettre bourguignonne. These featuresshowcase the talents of no fewer than four master artistsand reveal the importance, even extravagance, of thecommission.

This Folio facsimile is printed by Beacon Press, winnersof the Fine Art Printer of the Year Award for their workon The Temple of Flora (p. 10), on paper specially selectedfor its similarity to vellum. The rich golds, the deep bluesand the pastel shades of the flowers glow on the page.Stella Panayotova, Keeper of Manuscripts at theFitzwilliam Museum, has undertaken a detailedinvestigation into the origins of the manuscript and herfindings are presented in a fascinating commentary.

THE FITZWILLIAM BOOK OF HOURS

JACQUARD SILK BINDINGThis beautiful jacquard silk embellished with gold weftwas specially designed and woven for this book. Itsdesign is the pomegranate that features in so many ofthe illuminations. The weavers are Stephen Walters andSons, originally founded by a Huguenot silk-weaver inthe 1720s. More recently they wove the silk lining forthe Coronation robes of Queen Elizabeth II.

Limited to 1,180 copies. Bound in jacquard silk. All three page edges stained and gilded. Ribbon marker. 370 pages. 8" x 5¼". Accompanied by a commentary volume by StellaPanayotova. Presented in a solander box.


CALF LEATHERLeather is the traditional bookbindingmaterial – either fine goatskin or calfleather. Calf is very soft and durable witha smooth, full grain, but it is moreexpensive. For this royal commission, wedecided the book should be bound in fullscarlet-dyed calf hide from Italy. It isblocked with a recreation of the conjoinedarms of Spain and England designed byDavid Eccles.

THE QUEEN MARY ATLAS

Limited to 1,000 copies. Bound in full calf leather, blocked in blackand gold. Each map mounted on a ‘guard’, so that it opens flat.12 double-page maps and charts, measuring 31" x 22½".Accompanied by a commentary volume by Peter Barber. Presentedin a solander box.

Aprized possession of the British Library, The Queen Mary Atlas is withoutquestion one of the most remarkable manuscripts in the history of map

making. It marks the point where the medieval world view gave way to themore rational scientific exploration of the Renaissance.

The Queen Mary Atlas was commissioned as a gift forPhilip II of Spain from his wife, Mary Tudor. Philip wasfascinated by maps, and Mary no doubt hoped to pleasehim with her handsome gift. She commissioned therenowned Diogo Homem to create the maps, and thefocus on Spanish possessions and concerns is clear. Theconjoined arms of Spain and England are blocked on themap of England – though the Spanish arms weresubsequently defaced, it is thought by the altas’s laterowner Elizabeth I. Within these pages the world isdominated by the great maritime powers of Spain andPortugal. Ships patrol the seas or do battle with rivalfleets. Ornate compass roses gesture enigmatically to theEast. Flags and coats of arms jostle with pictorialvignettes of major cities and natural landmarks.

The stories depicted on the maps are a great part of itsbeauty and charm: Pizarro’s army, which subdued theInca empire, is depicted, as are the giants whichMagellan’s fleet reported seeing in 1521. The increasingknowledge of the time is permeated with myths andmisconceptions: monstrous creatures swim in uncharted,non-existent waters; legendary African kings rule fromthe foothills of mountains. A new understanding ofgeographical realities and cartographic advances made thisa very different picture of the world from those whichhad gone before. This combination of revelatory detailand exquisite decoration makes The Queen Mary Atlas ashistorically important as it is beautiful.


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ERIC GILL AND THE GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESSThe collaboration between the famous sculptor, typographer and artist Eric Gill and thepublisher Robert Gibbings produced the three masterpieces of the Golden Cockerel Press.Their great editions were created through a meticulous process. The type was set withspace left for Gill’s borders or initial letters and illustrations; proofs were then sent to Gill,who drew his design on the proof sheet itself before transferring the illustration to theengraving block. It was a sublime marriage of text and image: as Gill himself wrote, ‘Theengraving is part of the typography.’

THE CANTERBURY TALES

Amilestone in English literature, The CanterburyTales are a glorious feast of storytelling, by turns

heroic, bawdy, touching and devout. Eric Gill capturedthe unchanging human essence of the tales, and createda stylised beauty full of light, space and arabesquemovement. Gill’s range of expression is prodigious,blending the sensual and the graceful in a way thatreflects the spirit of the verse. In the words of arthistorian Peter Holliday, who wrote the commentaryessay that accompanies this facsimile, Gill’sinventiveness is ‘not unlike the playfulness displayed bymedieval scribes in their illuminated manuscripts’.

Gill’s illustrations for The Canterbury Tales are richindeed: half-page images, tailpieces and initial letters foreach of the tales, lively figures facing each other acrossthe page, and copious borders which he designed aspairs across every spread of the book. Blue and redinitial letters are used throughout – an inspired,thoroughly modern response to the medievalmanuscripts Gill admired.

‘Gill became the greatest artist-craftsman ofthe 20th century ... No other wood-engraverof the period comes near’dictionary of national biography


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TROILUS & CRISEYDE

Considered by many to be Chaucer’s masterpiece, Troilus & Criseyde wasthe first title which Gill illustrated for the Golden Cockerel Press. For

this tragic love story set during the Trojan War, he created beautiful full-pageengravings to open each of the five books, as well as the vertical page framesthat would become his hallmark. In this, his first commission for Robert

Gibbings, Gill was able to display his artistic versatility,marrying the medieval illuminated manuscript traditionwith a modernist aesthetic. Just like Chaucer’s poem, theseven full-page illustrations are by turns playful andtender, erotic and tragic, depicting the lovers at keypoints during their story. The borders and marginalillustrations show Chaucer himself writing the book, theGod of Love, and birds, trees and flowers – appropriateimages for a poem that both promotes and provides acritique of courtly love.

The accompanying commentary volume contains aspecially commissioned essay by Roderick Cave on thehistory of the Golden Cockerel Press, and an essay byProfessor Barry Windeatt explaining why Troilus &Criseyde is acknowledged by many as ‘Chaucer’sgreatest single achievement’.

‘Undoubtedly one of the greatachievements of the English

private presses of the inter-war period’

roderick cave

The Canterbury TalesLimited to 1,980 copies. 768 pages. Troilus & CriseydeLimited to 1,250 copies. 328 pages.

These Folio Society facsimiles are printed on felt-marked laidpaper from a Venetian paper mill. Each volume is bound inleather, blocked in 22-carat gold with a design by Neil Gowerbased on Gill’s engravings. Gilding on all three edges. Ribbonmarker. 12½" x 7¾". Commentary essays quarter-bound inbuckram. Presented in a solander box.


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KING HENRY’S PRAYER BOOK

Limited to 980 copies. Bound in red silk velvet on woodenboards with brass clasps. Gilding on all three page edges. 360pages. 8½" x 5¾". Accompanied by a commentary volume byJames P. Carley. Presented in a solander box.

RECREATING THE ORIGINAL BINDINGFew original bindings fromthe period of Henry VIIIhave survived, but in this casethe original silk velvet, woodenboards and brass clasps are stillintact, and we were able toreproduce them exactly. Theintricate brass clasps weremade in Italy by LaboratorioChiesi near Bologna.

Few treasures in the British Library evoke such apowerful reaction from visitors as the private prayer

book of King Henry VIII. This Latin psalter, presented toHenry in 1540 by the French artist Jean Mallard, gives usan unrivalled insight into the spiritual concerns of theking during the turbulent last decade of his life.

The prayer book was designed for use in private devotion.As head of the Church of England, Henry was responsiblefor interpreting Scripture to his people, and copiousmarginal notes in his own square, confident hand showhow seriously he took this task. The book is illuminatedwith seven exquisite miniatures, some depicting KingHenry as the biblical King David, author of the Psalms.The first copy of this facsimile has been graciouslyaccepted by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.


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An unparalleled musical, literary and artisticcelebration of Henry and the Tudor dynasty, the

Royal Choirbook was a magnificent collection of motets,presented to the 27-year-old Henry and Catherine ofAragon in 1518. It is exceptional for the sheer size andluxury of its production and its exquisite and ingeniousheraldic illuminations. This first ever facsimile reproducesthe artistry of the original, with its lavishly illustratedfrontispiece and ornamented initials throughout. TheRoyal Choirbook is accompanied by an expertcommentary by Nicolas Bell and transcription of themotets into modern musical notation, as well as a CD –the first time this music has ever been recorded.

The iconic image of his realm, this map was presentedto the king in 1537. ‘Angliae Figura’, as the map was

titled, was the most realistic depiction of Britain to date.The positioning of towns along the east coast of England,from Rye to Berwick-upon-Tweed, is correct, and thereare 633 place names, more than any previous map of theBritish Isles. No border is shown between Wales andEngland, reflecting the recent Acts of Union.

Peter Barber, Head of Map Collections at the BritishLibrary, has written a commentary volume in which hetraces the development of Henry’s interest in cartographyand explains how ‘Angliae Figura’ reflects the king’spolitical ambitions. The commentary also provides anoverview of the mapping of Britain from classicalantiquity to Tudor times.

Limited to 2,750 copies. Printed on Neobond, a specialistmaterial resembling vellum, which allows the map to be unrolledflat. Map size: 25¼" x 18¼". Accompanied by a commentaryvolume by Peter Barber. Presented in a map box.

ANGLIAE FIGURA

THE ROYAL CHOIRBOOK

Limited to 500 copies. Quarter-bound in buckram withvegetable parchment sides blocked in gold and coloured foils.36 pages. Gilding on all three page edges. 19¾" x 13¾".Accompanied by a commentary volume by Nicolas Bell.Presented in a slipcase.

TREASURES FROM THE LIBRARY OF KING HENRY: On 21 April 1509, the youngPrince of Wales was proclaimed Henry VIII, king of England. Created to commemorate the 50othanniversary of Henry’s accession, these limited edition facsimiles of three of the king’s most treasuredpossessions reflect the interests of England’s most famous monarch.


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‘We embarked on this project with high expectations of the professionalism of The Folio Society. The results have surpassed even our hopes’

simon arbuthnot Chairman of the Trustees of the Hereford World Map

The Hereford World Map, made in around 1300, is recognised by UNESCO asan exceptional cultural artefact – the largest, most detailed and elaborately

decorated mappa mundi still in existence. Over 1,000 inscriptions and almost asmany painted scenes and symbolic decorations combine to create a strange andunfamiliar world. It is a work of beauty, artistry and skill – a bestiary, psalter,Bible, history of the world and collection of travellers’ tales in one. It shows usnot only how medieval people saw the physical world around them, but howthey perceived it culturally and spiritually.

This spectacular reproduction by The Folio Society was made possible thanks to advances in digital technology and the expertise of consultants from theBritish Library and the Bodleian Library. On the original map the colours havenow faded to a palette of murky browns, but intense scrutiny by expertsrevealed clues as to the original colours. Their conclusions permitted a glowingbut accurate reproduction. Now the trustees of the Mappa Mundi have placed The Folio Society’s facsimile alongside the original on display in HerefordCathedral, permitting thousands of visitors to appreciate the map’s detail andbeauty at close quarters in a way that was never possible before.

The map is mounted on canvas backing and supported by two battens cutfrom oak. The limitation certificate has been printed letterpress onmould-made paper and is numbered by hand. The map itself bears ahand-numbered label on the reverse. Neobond, a specialist materialresembling vellum, has been used, allowing the map to be unrolled flat.Light-fast inks minimise any risk of fading.

Professor P. D. A. Harvey has written an introductory volume to the map, andwe have also republished Dr Scott D. Westrem’s celebrated commentary,which provides a full transcription of all the map’s inscriptions, and explainstheir meanings and their frequent allusions. Both volumes represent the finestand most up-to-date scholarship on the Hereford World Map and enhance ourunderstanding of this uniquely precious work of art.

THE HEREFORD WORLD MAP

COLOUR RESTORATIONOver the centuries, the paint on the originalmap became discoloured, leaving rivers, seasand continents a murky brown colour. Byanalysis of digital imagery, and in consultationwith a team of scholars, the reprographicexperts have restored the sea to its originalgreen and the rivers to blue, as well as cleaningup the background and clarifying inscriptions.

Limited to 1,000 copies. Map labelledon the reverse with a hand-numberedlimitation. 56" x 47¼". Presented in awooden map box together with alimitation certificate. Introduction andcommentary volumes (11" x 8½") areindividually slipcased.


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The 16th century was the golden age of Englishpoetry, and Edmund Spenser one of its brightest

stars. He burned to create an English equivalent toVirgil’s Aeneid. Instead of lauding the Caesars, he wouldglorify Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen. Where Virgilconnected Rome to the heroic past of Troy, Spenserwould forge a link between Tudor England and themythological age of King Arthur. The result was TheFaerie Queene, a rich allegory which elevated Protestantvirtues through the medium of a romantic, chivalricepic. On one level The Faerie Queene works as afabulous romance in which dragons, beasts, satyrs, foulenchanters, kind hermits, virtuous maidens and wickedseductresses are all to be found. On another, it is anallegory that is at once moral, political and biographical,with Queen Elizabeth represented by several heroiccharacters, such as the fearsome warrior-maid Britomart.

This Arts and Crafts edition of the epic, illustrated byWalter Crane, is both beautiful and lavish. Crane wasalready a well-established illustrator, artist andwood-engraver who had worked with William Morris,Edward Burne-Jones and other luminaries of the daywhen he embarked on the illustration and decoration ofSpenser’s Faerie Queene. It is the most impressive anddemanding work in his large and varied oeuvre, andtook him three years to complete.

Walter Crane’s 88 large illustrations and 135 illustrativehead and tailpieces were undoubtedly influenced by thework of the Kelmscott Press, but his distinctive style –inspired by Japanese art as much as by thepre-Raphaelites – gives a lighter, fresher feel. It is apowerful, imaginative response to the poem: faithful,and yet highly original.

Limited to 1,000 copies. Three volumes. Bound in leather,blocked in gold. Gilded top edges. Ribbon markers. 1,712 pagesin total. 10¾" x 8½". Presented in a wooden slipcase coveredin Toile Vendôme, with a sliding tray in the base.

THE FAERIE QUEENE


TOP-EDGE GILDINGThe most vulnerable edge of a book is the top, since it is themost exposed to light, dust and damp. The traditionalsolution is to protect the top edge by gilding it. Bibles, whichoften lie out upon a lectern, needed to be gilded on all threeedges. All three volumes of The Faerie Queene have beengilded after cutting, and before being cased in to the whiteleather binding.


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Metamorphoses, Ovid’s epic poem of gods and mortals, is one of the mostseductive and influential works ever written. In the 16th century, the

Italian master Titian created a series of sublime paintings based on scenes fromMetamorphoses. In this Folio Society limited edition, all of these paintings arepublished with the poem for the first time.

Ovid’s theme is the transforming power of passion. These transformations, ormetamorphoses, can represent divine punishment, as when Diana turns Actaeoninto a stag; they can provide escape, as when Daphne turns into a laurel tree toflee Apollo’s advances. Yet the ultimate shape-shifter is the poem itself. In

Ovid’s sinuous and witty narrative, each story flowsseamlessly into the next, in a structure that feelsrevolutionary even today. Titian painted scenes fromMetamorphoses throughout his life, immersing himself ina poetic world filled with symbolism, passion and drama.His paintings vary from the joyful dynamism of his earlyBacchus and Ariadne to later, more sombre works likeThe Death of Actaeon. The range of style and emotion,from poetic delight to dark tragedy, reflects the genius ofboth the artist and the poet who inspired him.

This edition uses Arthur Golding’s 1567 translation,which inspired Shakespeare and his contemporaries.With an introduction to the translation by MadeleineForey and a new essay by Michael Prodger, this is abeautiful tribute to Titian and Ovid.

METAMORPHOSES

Limited to 2,750 copies. Bound in leather blocked in goldwith a design by Simon Brett based on Bernini’s sculpture of Apollo and Daphne. Gilded top edge. Ribbon marker. 484 pages;16 tipped-in colour plates, two with a gatefold.13" x 9¾". Presented in a solander box.

‘These are simply the mostbeautiful pictures in theworld’ lucian freud


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From the smouldering ruins of Troy, Aeneas flees thevictorious Greeks, leading a small band in search of

a new destiny: to found the kingdom of Rome. Writtenin the wake of the Roman civil wars, Virgil’s epic is oneof the founding books of Western culture. Aeneas’ visitto the underworld, Dido’s suicide, the death of Priam atthe altar – these are among the most powerful andmoving moments in literature. This edition, introducedby Bernard Knox, uses thecelebrated 2006 translation byRobert Fagles, the only scholar tohave translated all three of themajor classical epics. It is illustrated with plates of frescoesfrom Pompeii, Herculaneum,Ostia, Stabiae and Rome, two of which have never before beenreproduced in book form.

AENEID

Limited to 1,750 copies. Bound in leather, blocked in gold and black with a design by Jeff Clements. Gilded top edge.Ribbon marker. 512 pages with 16 colour plates andfrontispiece. 10" x 6¾". Presented in a solander box.

‘The classic of all Europe’ t. s. eliot

TIPPED-IN ILLUSTRATIONSIn many luxury books, illustrations are printed on art paper while the text ison wove or laid paper. This enables both to be printed to the highest standards.The plates are then ‘tipped’ onto the blank pages by hand using a thin line ofpaste, keeping both picture and text in perfect condition.


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THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

The most innovative and arguably the most influential of the EnglishRomantics, Coleridge forged new paths in poetry. This collector’s edition

of four of his immortal poems contains superb illustrations by one of thecountry’s leading wood-engravers, Harry Brockway. The four poems were firstpublished during Coleridge’s lifetime: his thrilling supernatural ballad ‘TheRime of the Ancient Mariner’ in 1798, and then, in 1816, the unfinished lyricaldrama ‘Christabel’, the visionary ‘Kubla Khan’ and Coleridge’s cri de cœur‘The Pains of Sleep’.

This is the first time that Harry Brockway hashand-coloured his wood engravings in watercolour, andhe has created 16 for this edition. Each is hand-tippedonto the page with the lines it illustrates printed in goldon the reverse. Engraved tailpieces also showcaseBrockway’s unerring sense of composition and form. Anoriginal wood engraving, signed and numbered by theartist, is tipped onto the limitation spread, and theendpapers are also to his design, printed letterpress.Richard Holmes, Coleridge’s biographer, has said,‘Brockway’s pictures have something of the haunting,contemplative quality of stained-glass windows.’

Limited to 1,000 copies. Quarter-bound in vellum withvellum tips. Front board blocked in four shades of foil. Gildedtop edge. Printed on Cordier Wove paper, with hand-tornedges. 216 pages. 13"x 9¾". Presented in a solander box.

WOOD ENGRAVINGHarry Brockway first sketches,then engraves the wood beforeprinting a succession of proofsuntil he is satisfied with theresult. The limitation spreadcontains an engraving printeddirectly from the block by IanMortimer of IM Imprimit,which is then numbered andsigned by Brockway.


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In 1611, a book was published that would be read forcenturies by countless generations and still remains of

central importance to the English-speaking world. TheKing James Bible is one of the most influential books ofall time, not just as a devotional work but as a narrative ofgreat power, drama and poetry. This Folio Society editionwas published to commemorate the 400th anniversary ofits original publication. Limited to just 940 numberedcopies, it is a beautiful and lasting edition of one of themost important books in history.

The scholars who created it aimed above all to be faithfulto the original Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic, translatingliterally where necessary. Their approach gave rise tosome of the Bible’s most memorable and beautiful idioms:‘labour of love’, ‘sign of the times’, ‘bite the dust’, ‘land ofmilk and honey’, ‘fly in the ointment’, and many others.Over the centuries, different versions of the King JamesBible have appeared. This Folio Society edition followsthe Cambridge University Press text edited by DavidNorton, who has worked to restore the original 1611Bible. In his editor’s introduction, reproduced in thisedition, Norton describes his decade-long labour asresembling ‘the cleaning of an old master’.

Great care has gone into making this edition beautiful andlegible, with particular attention paid to the page design.Presented in a wooden slipcase lined with moiré silk, witha sliding base tray, this is a Bible to last for generations.

THE KING JAMES BIBLE

Limited to 940 copies. Two volumes presented in a woodenslipcase. Bound in full goatskin leather, blocked in gold withcalligraphy by Stephen Raw. Gilded page edges. Doubleribbon markers. 1,904 pages in total. 11" x 7¼".

TYPOGRAPHYThe typography of this Bible is simple and elegant, withsingle columns and paragraphs. The text is set in Swift, aclear, modern font, and the headings are picked out inred: a centuries-old tradition of fine Bible printing.


T H E F O L I O S O C I E T Y44 Eagle Street, London wc1r 4fs

www.foliosociety.com

13LE


Documents

The Folio Society Limited Edition Catalogue 2012/13