Folio Society Published Works Number 3009
Langland, William - The Vision of Piers the Plowman
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Langland, William - The Vision of Piers the Plowman (Published in by The Folio Society in 2014. One of the greatest medieval allegories. Includes a wonderful facing-page translation which sets the poem's original beauty alongside an elegant modern reading edition. Quarter-bound in leather with buckram sides, printed and blocked with a design by Harry Brockway. Green coloured page tops. Set in Miller Display. 512 pages with a frontispiece. 21 wood engravings. Book size: 11" x 7.25". A young man falls asleep and dreams of a tower on a hill and opposite it a dark fortress in a deep valley. Between this heaven and hell are fields filled with people – from the poorest beggar to the proudest cardinal. Angels and allegorical figures representing vices and virtues appear, but the dreamer's truest guide is the honest Piers Plowman, unlearned, simple and faithful, and the antithesis of the usual hero of courtly romance or poetic allegory. The Vision of Piers the Plowman is illustrated with 21 engravings by the celebrated artist and wood-engraver Harry Brockway. The images are integrated with the text in a layout that takes its inspiration from the earliest printed books, a form later revived by William Morris and then Eric Gill. Deceptive in their apparent simplicity, these beautiful engravings evoke biblical scenes inspired by contemporary stonework, illuminations and wall paintings, and offer a fitting counterpoint to a great literary treasure. )
