The Quest, Vol. 2, No. 5, (March, 1896) **Birmingham Guild of Handicraft**

Soft cover periodical, single issue, in green-grey printed paper wraps, quarto, (7-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches), the cover with engraved decoration to front of wraps printed in black. Contains 5 full page woodblock carved printed illustrations, 11 partial page in-text illustrations, 8 decorated initial capitals, and 4 decorative borders, (including ads and front of wraps, hand printed on Dutch handmade paper. Thus, [2, title and limitation pg.], [blank], [52-53] 54-87pp. , [plus 4pp. advertising], [1]. Numbering is consecutive with that of Quest Issue No. 4, see our listing 9417. **CONDITION: About Fine, with a some very, very minor crease to front of wraps, slight darkening to spine, and some slight offset browning to text, seen opposite plates. Now with tissue inserted. Overall, though, this is clean and has been well cared for. **This issue has decidedly medieval and architectural themes, marking it relevant in the Pre-Raphaelite and William Morris vein of promoting the past as a template for chivalric values, proper, handmade workmanship, and honoring the labor of the craftsperson. Hence, the article" Notes Upon Some of the Differences Between Ancient and Modern Buildings," by the architect and metalworker Arthur Stansfield Dixon (1856-1929), founder of the Birmingham School of Handicraft, and designer of their original premises. Other highlights include Edmund Hort New's wonderful full-page illustration of the medieval French castle at Fougerès. Located in Brittany, this holdfast was destroyed by Henry II in the twelfth century, and later rebuilt as a more durable fortification, sheltering artisans such as tanners, weavers, drapers and, later, glass works. *Following is a selection from the "King's Quair," the 15th-century poem written by the Scottish King James I (1394- 1437), and decorated with illustration by J. Southall and a border by Sydney Meteyard. [The ten-year old King James I sailed from North Berwick, via Bass Rock, in 1403, as his father, King Richard III attempted to keep him safe from the Stewarts. However, James was kidnapped at sea, imprisoned in the Tower of London and, later, Windsor Castle, by agents of the English King Henry IV, and not released until 1424.] The verses are from stanza 42-43 of James's poem, unfortunately "english-afied" from the original Scots. His captivity introduced him to the woman who would become his queen, and this is the section of the poem represented in these pages. (See, Skeat, "The Kingis Quair." (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Son, 1884) pp. vii-ix. Watson 567.…