1845 Rare Book bound by the Monastery Hill bindery - REYNARD THE FOX. Medieval Fables.

---

This beautiful book has been sold...

Search for other similar books from our bookseller friends!

 

---

(description)

Author: REYNARD THE FOX. Translated & Preface By S NAYLOR.
Title: REYNARD THE FOX. A renowned Apologue of the Middle Age, reproduced in Rhyme.
Language: Text in English.
Publisher: London: Longmans, 1845.
Size: 8 " X 6 ".
Pages: 55, ccli pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine polished brown calf leather binding inscribed by Binder Ernst Hertzberg, founder of the Monastery Hill bindery (hinges fine) under a protective mylar cover. A beautiful binding!
Content: Very good content (bright and tight, rare light foxing and staining - as shown, gift note of a previous owner on the half-title page, all edges gilt).
Illustration: Color chromolithographed title page with drawings. Initials, captions, and other devices illuminated in colors throughout the book. 

The Book: Attractive, rare and beautiful edition of REYNARD THE FOX. A renowned Apologue of the Middle Age, reproduced in Rhyme... Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre is very popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, and in chapbook form throughout the Early Modern period. The stories are largely concerned with the main character Reynard, an anthropomorphic red fox and trickster figure. His adventures usually involve him deceiving other anthropomorphic animals for his own advantage or trying to avoid their retaliatory efforts. His main enemy and victim across the cycle is his uncle, the wolf Isengrim (or Ysengrim).While the character of Reynard appears in later works, the core stories were written during the Middle Ages by multiple authors and are often seen as parodies of medieval literature such as courtly love stories and chansons de geste, as well as a satire of political and religious institutions.

The Binder: Although 1868 is Monastery Hill’s celebrated year of origin, its story actually begins years before in the small town of Gramzow, Germany. That was when the original founder, Ernst Hertzberg, began learning the craft of bookbinding. In his early childhood, Ernst had often played on the ruins of an old monastery outside of town. The young boy quickly developed an interest in the scribing and binding practices of the monastery’s former monks, and at only eight years old, Ernst began apprenticing with a local bookbinder. A short time later, Ernst immigrated to the United States and started his new life working as a helper in a Chicago lumberyard. Because of his early experience with bookbinding, however, he soon landed a job with Ringer Book Bindery located on Randolph Street, just above the legendary Henrici’s Restaurant. Within ten years, he was given the opportunity to buy into ownership of the firm. In 1902, the bookbinding business moved to its current location on Belmont Street in the Chicago neighborhood of West Lakeview.