Easton Press "The Romance of Tristan and Iseult" Slipcased Deluxe Limited Edition of 500 [Sealed]

“The great Celtic legend in the 1903 edition with illustrations by Robert Engels…The immortal story of the Cornish knight who is bewitched into falling in love with his King’s betrothed was beautifully captured in the great 1903 edition with haunting art by Robert Engels. This leather-bound Deluxe Limited Edition reproduces that historic volume.”

LIMITED TO ONLY 500 BEAUTIFUL LEATHER-BOUND SLIPCASED COPIES. 

Easton Press, Norwalk CT. 2021. "The Romance of Tristan and Iseult". Deluxe Limited Edition of only 500 hand-numbered copies. Slipcased edition. Retold by Joseph Bedier. Illustrations by Robert Engels. Very Fine, sealed without any flaws. A historic reproduction of the 1903 edition by the masters of traditional book-making. Includes all of Robert Engels' water colors and more!

• A gorgeous vintage recreation of that renowned Edwardian book, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult
• Dimensions: Oversized 8½” x 12”
• 160 page folio volume bound in premium leather with a traditional 'hubbed' spine accented with beautiful 22kt gold.
• The full 1903 text, complete and unabridged, as well as the original decorative embellishments, layout, and typography.
• All of Robert Engels original watercolors, dozens of full-color images imaginatively integrated into the text just as they were in the 1903 edition.

The immortal story of the Cornish knight who is bewitched into falling in love with his King’s betrothed was beautifully captured in the great 1903 edition with haunting art by Robert Engels. This leather-bound Deluxe Limited Edition reproduces that historic volume. Perhaps no European legend has as profound a hold or deep an influence on the Western world's imagination as the love story of Tristan and Iseult. And no English language edition of the great medieval tale is as beautiful or authoritative as the 1903 limited edition, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult.

The definitive Tristan and Iseult: Originally a Celtic legend of doomed love, noble knights, magic, and supernatural creatures, the story Tristan and Iseult was adapted by French poets in the 12th century and would go on to become a central element of the Arthurian legends and the foundation of a still vital tradition that includes Wagner's famous opera and, of course, Tolkien's legends of Middle Earth. The 1903 limited edition The Romance of Tristan and Iseult featured master Tristan scholar Joseph Bédier's still definitive version of the legend in an eloquent and powerful translation by Hilaire Belloc, one of the towering literary figures of the Edwardian era.

Originally a Celtic legend of doomed love, noble knights, magic, and supernatural creatures, the story Tristan and Iseult was adapted by French poets in the 12th century and would go on to become a central element of the Arthurian legends and the foundation of a still vital tradition that includes Wagner's famous opera and, of course, Tolkien's legends of Middle Earth.

The 1903 limited edition The Romance of Tristan and Iseult featured master Tristan scholar Joseph Bédier's still definitive version of the legend in an eloquent and powerful translation by Hilaire Belloc, one of the towering literary figures of the Edwardian era. Illustrated throughout with the evocative watercolor paintings of German artist Robert Engels, the gorgeous edition was hailed in 1903 as a book of “rare artistic finish, beauty of illustration, and loftiness of purpose” and recently described by the Chicago Sun-Times as “a book to preserve and cherish.”

Tristan and Iseult

Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Of disputed source, usually assumed to be primarily Celtic, the tale is a tragedy about the illicit love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult in the days of King Arthur. During Tristan's mission to escort Iseult from Ireland to marry his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, Tristan and Iseult ingest a love potion, instigating a forbidden love affair between them.

The legend has had a lasting impact on Western culture. Its different versions exist in many European texts in various languages from the Middle Ages. The earliest instances take two primary forms: the so-called courtly and common branches, respectively associated with the 12th-century poems of Thomas of Britain and Béroul, the latter believed to reflect a now-lost original tale. A subsequent version emerged in the 13th century in the wake of the greatly expanded Prose Tristan, merging Tristan's romance more thoroughly with the Arthurian legend. Finally, after the revived interest in the medieval era in the 19th century under the influence of Romantic nationalism, the story has continued to be popular in the modern era, notably Wagner's operatic adaptation.

Features

• Fully bound in genuine leather.
• 22kt gold deeply inlaid on the "hubbed" spine.
• Custom-crafted clothbound slipcase.
• Superbly printed on acid-neutral paper that lasts for generations.
• Sewn pages — not just glued like ordinary books.
• Printed endpages and a satin-ribbon page marker.
• Printed and bound in the USA. Imported materials.
• Rigorous inspection at every stage ensures adherence to exacting standards.
• Superb craftsmanship and commitment to quality.
• Beautiful Illustrations
• Gilded Page Edges