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Tag Archives: Powys

Book of the Week — Wrenching Times: Poems from Drum-Taps

15 Sunday Apr 2018

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Abraham Lincoln, Alan Wood, assassination, Brooklyn, Capitol, David Esslemont, democratic, frontier, Gaylord Schanilec, Gwasg Gregynog, Hugh Willmer, lilacs, M. Wynn Thomas, memorial, Monotype Baskerville, New York, Newton, North Wales Arts Association, poet, Powys, President, rare books, Rhian Ticehurst, typeface, Union, Wales, Walt Whitman, Washington, Western, wood blocks, wood engravings, Zerkall mould-made paper

PS3211-A3-1991-Portrait

“When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d…and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.”

Wrenching Times: Poems from Drum-Taps
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Newton, Powys, Wales: Gwasg Gregynog, 1991
PS3211 A3 1991

From notes by M. Wynn Thomas: “Whitman was in New York, seeing Drum-Taps through the press, when Lincoln was assassinated on the evening of 14 April 1865, at the very time when he had finally secured victory for the Union. Whitman had come to identify very closely with the president, having supported him when others dismissed him as a mere country hick, and having seen him pass every day under Whitman’s window in Washington on his journey to and from the Capitol. Lincoln was, for the poet, the very epitome of Western, frontier qualities and his steadfast adherence, through the worst of times, to his principled belief in a democratic Union had won Whitman’s unqualified and undying admiration. Years later, in his old age, he would still endeavour, whenever his health allowed, to deliver an annual memorial lecture on the day of Lincoln’s death. On that occasion he always ensured that lilacs were placed on the table in front of him.

“The lilac was in flower near his Brooklyn home when Whitman heard of Lincoln’s murder.”

PS3211-A3-1991-Locomotive

Wood engravings by Gaylord Schanilec, made at Gregynog during a residency, supported by the North Wales Arts Association, and printed from the original wood-blocks. Designed and printed by David Esslemont with the assistance of Hugh Willmer on Zerkall mould-made paper. Typeface is Monotype Baskerville. Edition of four hundred and fifty copies, one of four hundred copies bound in quarter leather by Alan Wood and Rhian Ticehurst at Gregynog.

Gregynog Press was a Welsh private press, started and run by two wealthy sisters, whose interests were more artistic than literary. All of the work of the books from this press happened under one roof – design layout, composition, presswork, design and execution of woodblocks, hand-coloring and binding – an unusual circumstance for early twentieth century presses.

Rare Books copy is number 201 with unpublished wood engraving laid in.

PS3211-A3-1991-Horse

April is National Poetry Month.

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Book of the Week – The Romance of Parzival and the Holy Grail

02 Monday Feb 2015

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chivalry, Chrétien de Troyes, compassion, English, German, Gwasg Gregynog, Holy Grail, humility, medieval, Middle High German, Monotype Bembo, mould-made, Newton, Parzival, Percival, Powys, romance, spirituality, Stefan Mrozewski, Wolfram von Eschenbach, wood engravings, Zerkall

PT1682-P8-E56-1990(1)The Romance of Parzival and the Holy Grail
Wolfram von Eschenbach (12th century)
Newtown, Powys: Gwasg Gregynog, 1990

The story of the knight Parzival is a medieval German romance written in Middle High German, dating from the first quarter of the thirteenth century. The story is based on Chrétien de Troyes’s “Perceval, the Story of the Grail” which in turn centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival, or Percival in English, and his quest for the Holy Grail. All of the versions emphasize the importance of humility, compassion and spirituality. Heroic acts of chivalry, inspired by true love, dominate the story. Illustrated with twelve full-page wood engravings by Stefan Mrozewski. The engravings were intended for a 1936 book, aborted by the outbreak of war. Abridged version translated by Carl Lofmark. Typeset and in 14 and 16 pt. Monotype Bembo. Printed on Zerkall mould-made paper. Bound in quarter leather and red decorated boards. Edition of one hundred and ninety-five copies. University of Utah copy is no. 106.

alluNeedSingleLine

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