Rabelais Works 1930 Washburn Leather Gilt Howard Simon Woodcuts Unexpurgated VG+
$ 15.82
Description
Rabelais Works 1930 Washburn Leather Gilt Howard Simon Woodcuts Unexpurgated VG+. This 1930 Ives Washburn edition pairs the complete, unexpurgated text with original wood engravings by Howard Simon, whose bold, muscular style perfectly captures Rabelais's earthy energy. The leather binding with gilt top edge and gold spine decoration makes this a beautiful shelf piece as well as a reader's edition. THE WORKS OF RABELAIS Gargantua and Pantagruel ❦ Ives Washburn, New York ❦ MCMXXX ❦ ✦ EDITION FEATURES ✦ Leather Binding Top Edge Gilt Gold Decoration Howard Simon Woodcuts Unexpurgated Text 1st Thus ❧ Publication Details Publisher Ives Washburn, New York Year 1930 (MCMXXX) Format Leather-Bound Hardcover Edition First Thus (1st w/ Simon Art) Illustrations Wood Engravings by Howard Simon Special Features Top Edge Gilt, Gold Spine Decoration ❧ Why This Edition Matters François Rabelais (c. 1494–1553) was a French monk, physician, humanist, and the author of one of the most gloriously vulgar, intellectually dazzling, and flat-out weird works in Western literature. Gargantua and Pantagruel is the story of two giants—a father and son—whose adventures serve as a vehicle for biting satire on religion, education, politics, and everything else Rabelais could think of. It is also, famously, extremely bawdy. The word "gargantuan" comes from this book. So does "Pantagruelism"—meaning "buffoonery or coarse humor with a satirical purpose." Rabelais didn't do things by half measures. This 1930 Ives Washburn edition pairs the complete, unexpurgated text with original wood engravings by Howard Simon, whose bold, muscular style perfectly captures Rabelais's earthy energy. The leather binding with gilt top edge and gold spine decoration makes this a beautiful shelf piece as well as a reader's edition. ❧ The Illustrator: Howard Simon 🎨 HOWARD JACOB SIMON (1902–1979) "During the 1920s and 1930s, Howard Jacob Simon was a nationally celebrated painter in oils and watercolors and an illustrator in sketches and woodcut prints." He was born in New York, frequented the National Academy of Design as a teenager, and by age seventeen had saved enough money to spend five years studying art in Paris. At the Académie Julian, Simon studied under Jacques Alexander—but it was Japanese instructors who taught him his woodcut technique. That blend of Western training and Eastern craft gives his wood engravings their distinctive bold lines and dramatic contrasts. Simon also illustrated editions of Voltaire's Candide, Oscar Wilde's The Nightingale and the Rose, and numerous other works. His art is displayed in museums across the country. In 1942, he wrote 500 Years of Art in Illustration—the man knew his field. ❧ On Rabelais "Biting and bawdy, smart and smutty, lofty and low, Gargantua and Pantagruel is fantasy on the grandest of scales, told with an unquenchable thirst for all of human experience." — Publisher's description "To place Rabelais at the side of Dante, Boccaccio, Cervantes, Shakespeare and the giants of European literature is in no way to exaggerate his importance." — AbeBooks critical assessment 🍷 DID YOU KNOW? Rabelais originally published under the anagrammatic pseudonym "Alcofribas Nasier"—an anagram of François Rabelais. The Church wasn't particularly amused by his satire, so anonymity seemed prudent. The influence on English literature is immense. Swift, Sterne, and Robert Burton all show Rabelais's fingerprints. Shakespeare was familiar with his work. James Joyce considered Gargantua and Pantagruel a major influence on Ulysses. The giants drink from rivers. Gargantua's mare's tail creates the Forest of Orléans. Pantagruel's tongue is so large it shelters an entire civilization. Scale is not a concern here. Howard Simon learned woodcut technique from Japanese artists in Paris—a perfect marriage of Eastern precision and Western expressiveness for illustrating a French Renaissance masterpiece in 1930s America. "Unexpurgated" matters here. Victorian and Edwardian editions often censored Rabelais's earthier passages. This edition gives you the full, uncut experience—as Rabelais intended. ❧ Who Needs This Book Collectors of illustrated editions — Howard Simon's woodcuts are sought after Students of Renaissance literature — complete, unexpurgated text Lovers of satire — this is the granddaddy of savage social commentary Bibliophiles — leather binding, gilt edge, gold decoration Anyone who appreciates books that are simultaneously brilliant and filthy ❧ Condition: Very Good (VG) Cover & Pages: Some edge wear Binding: Tight Pages: Crisp Interior: No writing or highlighting 📷 Please see photos for detailed condition assessment 📦 SHIPPING: Will be shipped carefully and quickly the same or next business day! ❧ LISTED BY JT ENTERPORTALS ❧ ~ Illustrated Literature • Leather Binding • Renaissance Satire • Fine Press ~ >>>Powered by WonderLister App
