Books

First Essex House Press edition, number 41 of 150 copies printed on vellum and hand illuminated. The frontispiece is by Reginald Savage, his named added in manuscript on the limitation page. Milton's masque was first presented on Michaelmas 1634 and was first printed, anonymously, in 1637. It is presented here as the eighth work in the Essex House Press Great Poems Series. The Essex House Press was founded by Charles Robert Ashbee and Laurence Hodson following the closure of William Morris's Kelmscott Press in 1897 and "came from the heart of the arts and crafts movement" (Franklin, p. 64). Ashbee bought the Kelmscott Press's Albion printing presses after Morris's death, and employed one of the Kelmscott compositors, Thomas Binning. In 1902 "a bindery was established in the Guild, under the direction of Annie Power, who had been a student of Douglas Cockerell" (Crawford, p. 400). The illuminated letters for this work were provided by Florence Kingsford Cockerell (1871-1949), one of the leading book illuminators of the English arts and crafts movement. Kingsford Cockerell studied calligraphy under Edward Johnston and predominantly worked for the Ashendene Press. Octavo. Original vellum, spine lettered in gilt, rose and "Soul is Form" blind-stamped to front cover. Printed in Caslon type in blue and black. Hand-coloured frontispiece woodcut by Reginald Savage, illuminated letters by Florence Kingsford Cockerell. Manusript note from the 1930s noting the book as from the library of Rev. Arthur Percy Dodd, curate of Weston under Wetherley and secretary of the Leamington Chess Club. Faint natural discolouration to vellum, mild rubbing to edges, a near-fine copy. Ashbee, A Bibliography of The Essex House Press, p. 15; Franklin, p. 243; Ransom, Essex House Press 23. Alan Crawford, C. R. Ashbee: Architect, Designer & Romantic Socialist, 2005.

Comus: A Mask, also known as simply Comus, is a masque written by John Milton in 1634. It was first presented on Michaelmas night, September 29, 1634, before John Egerton, the Earl of Bridgewater, at Ludlow Castle in celebration of his inauguration as Lord President of Wales. Known for its themes of chastity and virtue, the narrative of Comus follows the Lady who is lost in the woods and tempted by the enchanter Comus. Her virtue and steadfastness against seduction are celebrated in the masque.