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Twelfth Night

Illustrated by Eric Ravilious

William Shakespeare author Eric Ravilious illustrator Alan Powers editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bodleian Library

Published:25th Apr '24

Should be back in stock very soon

Twelfth Night cover

Together with a newly commissioned introduction, this book includes a facsimile of one of Eric Ravilious’s finest illustrated works, first published by the Golden Cockerel Press in 1932 in a limited print run and now considered a masterpiece of typography and illustration.

Artist and illustrator Eric Ravilious was fascinated with Elizabethan and Jacobean poetry and drama, both as literature and as visual inspiration. His playful wood engravings depict characters such as Viola, Sebastian, Sir Toby Belch and Malvolio in period costume on imaginary stages or in garden scenes. Decorative borders and vignettes enliven the pages.

The Golden Cockerel Press, owned by Robert Gibbings, himself an engraver, was famous for limited-edition, hand-printed books that benefited from the revival of wood engraving after the First World War. The introduction by Alan Powers tells how this edition, growing out of a wider Shakespeare revival, was nearly derailed by the consequences of the economic Depression and how the resourcefulness and determination of those involved with the Press brought about this extraordinary version of Shakespeare’s much-loved comedy.

This stunning clothbound reproduction, which includes
an introduction by Alan Powers, illustrates Ravilious’
virtuoso skills as a wood engraver and his fascination
with Elizabethan poetry.

-- Angela Wintle * Book of the Month *

This stunning clothbound reproduction, which includes
an introduction by Alan Powers, illustrates Ravilious’
virtuoso skills as a wood engraver and his fascination
with Elizabethan poetry.

-- Angela Wintle * Book of the Mon

ISBN: 9781851246243

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 498g

96 pages