The Old Book: A Mediaeval Anthology

London:: Alfred A. Knopf,. Hardback. xxvii, 318pp. Limited edition no. 353 of 750. Edited and illuminated by Dorothy Hartley. Introduction by George Saintsbury. With four colour and 11 black and white plates and further black and white illustrations throughout. Produced on Japon de Luxe paper. Bound in cloth coated to look like wood with 8 blind stamps vignettes of people working (4 stamped to each board) which together with impressed lines for panels give the effect of a carved wood binding. Gilt titles and the date in roman numerals to the spine. Endpapers with medieval style writing interspersed with tiny drawings. Colour frontis and illustration to title page. Uncut to fore-edge. Wide margins provide notes to clarify the Middle English texts. The eight parts include; Part One: Of The Land, Part Two: Of The People, Part Three: Of The Household, Part Four: Of Travellers' Tales, Part 5: Of Doctors and Science, Part Six: Of Beast, Part Seven: Of Fears and Ghost, Part Eight: Of Cures and Prayers. Larger format: 260 by 180mm (10¼ by 7 inches). Slightly surface rubbed to the spine ends exposing the weave of the cloth. A little rubbed to edges of spine. Two bookplates to prelims. Very clean and neat. Very good copy . Hardback. 1930.