An eight-volume set of the Gresham Publishing Company's Myth and Legend in Literature and Art series, uniformly bound in decorated cloth – a rare, display-worthy collection of world mythology.
About the book
Published in London from 1912, the Gresham series brought together the myths, legends and folklore of the ancient and medieval world, written by leading popular scholars of the day such as Donald A. Mackenzie and Charles Squire, and illustrated with plates after artists of the period.
This set includes eight titles: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, Indian Myth and Legend, Classic Myth and Legend, Celtic Myth and Legend, Romance and Legend of Chivalry, Teutonic Myth and Legend, Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe and Egyptian Myth and Legend.
Each volume is uniformly bound in pale green/beige cloth with decoration to the front boards and spines.
The series was conceived as a companion to literature and art as much as a work of scholarship: each volume retells the great myth cycles in readable prose and explains how they shaped later poetry, painting, drama and religious thought. Readers will find the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian creation story, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Olympian gods and heroes, the Ulster and Fenian cycles, Arthurian and Carolingian romance, the Norse Eddas and Nibelungenlied, the Minoan world of Knossos, and the Osiris cycle and Egyptian Book of the Dead.
The volumes are illustrated with colour plates and monochrome illustrations after artists of the period, which – together with the decorated bindings – make the set as much a decorative object as a reference library. Complete or near-complete runs in uniform bindings are far scarcer than single volumes, as the books were issued over several years and sets were often broken up.
About the author
The series drew on some of the best-known popular mythographers of the early twentieth century. Scottish journalist and folklorist Donald A. Mackenzie wrote the Egyptian, Indian, Teutonic, Babylonian and Cretan volumes; Charles Squire, an authority on Celtic literature, wrote the Celtic volume; and A. R. Hope Moncrieff wrote the Classic and Chivalry volumes.
Ideal for: collectors of decorative Edwardian bindings, students of comparative mythology and religion, and anyone building a serious library of world myth and legend.
Details
- Publisher: The Gresham Publishing Company, London
- Published: c. 1912–1920s
- Format: Hardcover, 8 volumes
- Series: Myth and Legend in Literature and Art
Carefully packed and shipped from Australia. Questions about this copy, or want more photos? Get in touch.
An eight-volume set of the Gresham Publishing Company's Myth and Legend in Literature and Art series, uniformly bound in decorated cloth – a rare, display-worthy collection of world mythology.
About the book
Published in London from 1912, the Gresham series brought together the myths, legends and folklore of the ancient and medieval world, written by leading popular scholars of the day such as Donald A. Mackenzie and Charles Squire, and illustrated with plates after artists of the period.
This set includes eight titles: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, Indian Myth and Legend, Classic Myth and Legend, Celtic Myth and Legend, Romance and Legend of Chivalry, Teutonic Myth and Legend, Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe and Egyptian Myth and Legend.
Each volume is uniformly bound in pale green/beige cloth with decoration to the front boards and spines.
The series was conceived as a companion to literature and art as much as a work of scholarship: each volume retells the great myth cycles in readable prose and explains how they shaped later poetry, painting, drama and religious thought. Readers will find the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian creation story, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Olympian gods and heroes, the Ulster and Fenian cycles, Arthurian and Carolingian romance, the Norse Eddas and Nibelungenlied, the Minoan world of Knossos, and the Osiris cycle and Egyptian Book of the Dead.
The volumes are illustrated with colour plates and monochrome illustrations after artists of the period, which – together with the decorated bindings – make the set as much a decorative object as a reference library. Complete or near-complete runs in uniform bindings are far scarcer than single volumes, as the books were issued over several years and sets were often broken up.
About the author
The series drew on some of the best-known popular mythographers of the early twentieth century. Scottish journalist and folklorist Donald A. Mackenzie wrote the Egyptian, Indian, Teutonic, Babylonian and Cretan volumes; Charles Squire, an authority on Celtic literature, wrote the Celtic volume; and A. R. Hope Moncrieff wrote the Classic and Chivalry volumes.
Ideal for: collectors of decorative Edwardian bindings, students of comparative mythology and religion, and anyone building a serious library of world myth and legend.
Details
- Publisher: The Gresham Publishing Company, London
- Published: c. 1912–1920s
- Format: Hardcover, 8 volumes
- Series: Myth and Legend in Literature and Art
Carefully packed and shipped from Australia. Questions about this copy, or want more photos? Get in touch.
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