LEWIS, Wyndham. Timon of Athens. [1913]. Peter Harrington Rare Books.

LEWIS, Wyndham. Timon of Athens. Published: London: The Cube Press, [1913].

Presented by Ben Houston of Peter Harrington Rare Books.

Folio. 16 sheets, printed rectos only, unbound as issued in original laid cream paper portfolio, decorations to both wrappers by Lewis in black, brown linen ties. Lacking the blank leaf mentioned by Morrow & Lafourcarde and almost never present but with the original printed Lewis-designed envelope. Housed in a quarter black morocco solander box. 6 colour and 10 black and white plates. Envelope a little toned and with a couple of minor tears, some marginaly foxing to one of two plates, ties frayed. But a truly exceptional copy.

First and only edition. The story of Lewis’s first publication could stand as his epitaph. Commissioned in a somewhat casual way to make a number of illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare’s least cheerful play, Lewis managed so to horrify the prospective publishers with this radical and challenging piece of work that they abandoned the project entirely. Lewis pressed on regardless and issued this text-free version. The Cube Press is thought to have been his own invention solely to expedite this, its only publication. The images are among his finest and seem – perhaps inevitably – to prefigure the war that was soon to come.

LEWIS, Wyndham. Timon of Athens. [1913]. Peter Harrington Rare Books.

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