Benito Cereno

London: The Nonesuch Press, 1926. Cloth. Near Fine. 12.5" by 8". E. McKnight Kauffer. Herman Melville's interesting novella set on a slave ship, beautiful illustrated with hand-coloured plates and vignettes throughout, published by the Nonesuch Press. A limited edition of 1650 copies, of which this is numbered 8.'Benito Cereno' is a novella by the American author Herman Melville. In this novella Melville fictionalizes a revolt on a Spanish slave ship which is captained by Don Benito Cereno, set in 1799.Illustrated with a hand-coloured frontispiece, hand-coloured vignette title, six hand-coloured plates, and hand-coloured vignettes.Collated, complete.  The Nonesuch Press specialised in limited edition and private press. They were founded by Francis Meynell, his second wife Vera Mendel, and their friend David Garnett. Their aspiration was for their publications to be aligned with the same aesthetic standards as the private press movement. They were unusual as they used a small Albion press to design the books, but had them printed by commercial printers. In doing so, books with the quality of a fine-press were produced, but available to a wider audience at lower prices.Illustrated by E. McKnight Kauffer. In the original publisher's cloth binding. Externally, smart. Spine and front board are a little faded. A few minor marks to the boards. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Most paged unopened to the top edge. Near Fine