The Plays. Translated into English Rhyming Verse by Gilbert Murray. With wood-engravings from the Greek Vase Paintings by Robert Ashwin Maynard and Horace Walter Bray. [2 vols bound as one]

(Gregynog Press.) EURIPIDES.

Published by Gregynog Press, 1931

About this Item

19/25 (or 35, see below) COPIES (from an overall edition of 500), specially bound by George Fisher after a design by Maynard and/or Bray, printed on Batchelor handmade paper, 32 wood-engravings, title-pages printed in black and russet brown, edges of endpapers faintly toned, very occasional faint spots, pp. [xi], 269, [iii], 263, [i], folio, original polished russet brown Levant morocco, gilt-blocked figures of Apollo on upper board and Achilles on lower board, each within triple gilt-ruled borders, spine with raised bands, lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, near fine. 'Its simplicity makes it a book for the connoisseur of typography. The narrow pages which carry the short lines of Murray's translation are tightly set in Bembo and the beautiful Fairbank italic is used for stage directions.' (Hutchins, 1976, p.28) [with:] 1955 receipt from the Press to the original owner, Captain Vickerman, and two letters from E. Powell of the Press informing the original owner that the book is available and highlighting the limitation number error in Dr. Thomas Jones' bibliography. The letter states that there were 35 specially bound copies, not 25 as stated by Jones; the last 16 were near completion when George Fisher retired, and were finished off at the National Library of Wales by Fisher's assistant, Ewart Bowen. This copy is one of those completed by Bowen: 'It differs from the rest in that the panel of gold lines is not so heavy as the original, but is, in my opinion, rather nicer looking.' (Harrop 18).

Seller Inventory # 74596

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Plays. Translated into English Rhyming Verse by Gilbert Murray. With wood-engravings from the Greek Vase Paintings by Robert Ashwin Maynard and Horace Walter Bray. [2 vols bound as one]
• Publisher: Gregynog Press
• Publication Date: 1931
• Seller catalogs:
  • Private Press