The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles Hardcover - 1921

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1921. Stated verso title page: "Copyright, 1921, by The Macmillan Company. Set Up and Electrotyped. Published December, 1921." Ruddy brown full cloth boards, sharp black embossed cover design, crisp gilt aspine titles with black vignettes, light shelf wear, clean. Cover design and spine depict imagery of sailing vessels, and Achilles, the warrior. Deckled leaves near fine, clean; no writing. Pictorial map endpapers, at front and back, of Greece and the surrounding nations of the Mediterranean complete w/sailing vessel and sea monsters. Bind fine, square; hinges intact. Rare near fine first edition. Illustrated w/many plates in varying hues of grey to black and white, by the famed surreal artist Willy Pogany. Also, full and partial page b&w imagery, vignettes, by Pogany throughout. Padraic Colum (1881-1972) was a poet, playwright, and leader of the Irish Renaissance, but he is best known by his works for children including: "The Children of Odin," "The Golden Fleece" and "The Children's Homer." Presented here are the cycle of myths about Jason and the Argonauts, the quest for the Golden Fleece, as well as tales of the creation of Heaven and Earth, the labors of Hercules, Theseus, the Minotaur, and more rousing adventures of old. Enter a world where harpies torment mortals, the Argonaut Orpheus sings, the mighty god Zeus wages war on the Titans, and Prometheus steals fire. Padraic Colum weaves the tales of Jason and his Argonauts with classic Greek mytholodgy to create this captivating epic about life, war, and astounding beings who lived in a time long past! Printed in the United States of America. 289 pages. Insured post.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine. Illus. by Pogany, Willy. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall.