SYR YSAMBRACE

(KELMSCOTT PRESS)

Published by Kelmscott Press, Hammersmith, 1897

About this Item

212 x 145 mm. (8 1/4 x 5 3/4"). 2 p.l., 41 pp. Edited by F. S. Ellis from the J. O. Halliwell edition of the Lincoln Cathedral manuscript. Original holland-backed blue paper boards, edges untrimmed. Wood engraved frontispiece by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, decorative woodcut initials, device in colophon, and wide decorative border on first opening of text. Printed in red and black in Chaucer type. Front pastedown with the "W R H J" scorpion bookplate of Wynne Rice Hugh Jeudwine. Peterson A-48; Sparling 48; Tomkinson, pp. 120-21. Upper corners gently bumped, boards with faint overall soiling, but the binding not at all spotted or stained and generally in excellent condition. The text in immaculate condition. Whereas other copies generally show up soiled and noticeably worn, this is an unusually fine copy of a Kelmscott Press book that, according to Sparling, "was always a favourite with Morris." The book is one of the chivalric Medieval tales so dear to Morris' heart, beautifully illustrated here by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98). That Pre-Raphaelite artist was so enamored with "Syr Ysambrace" that he painted subjects from the poem on the walls of Morris' country home, Red House, in Bexley Heath. In editing the text of this Medieval romance, Ellis used the manuscript in the library of Lincoln Cathedral to augment and correct the printed version by J. O. Halliwell, which itself was based upon the Cambridge manuscript. The publisher's binding here has none of the usual fraying to the fragile holland backing, no soiling to the boards, and a virtually pristine interior. Copies are not uncommon in the marketplace, but one in this especially fine condition is difficult to obtain. Editor and art dealer Wynne Rice Hugh Jeudwine (1920-84) was a discriminating collector whose books were in uniformly fine condition. Much of his collection was sold at Bloomsbury in London on September 18th in the year of his death. ONE OF 350 COPIES on paper (and eight on vellum).

Seller Inventory # ST20142

Bibliographic Details

• Title: SYR YSAMBRACE
• Publisher: Kelmscott Press, Hammersmith
• Publication Date: 1897
• Seller catalogs:
  • Private Press
  • Illustrated Books - Woodcuts