1911 First Edition by Keith Henderson - The Romaunt of the Rose by Chaucer
An elegant and complete 1911 illustrated edition of the medieval dream allegory, with twenty beautifully atmospheric color plates by Keith Henderson and Norman Wilkinson of Four Oaks.
Author: Geoffrey Chaucer, translator, after Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. Illustrated by Keith Henderson and Norman Wilkinson of Four Oaks.
Title: The Romaunt of the Rose. Rendered out of the French into English by Geoffrey Chaucer and Illustrated by Keith Henderson & Norman Wilkinson of Four Oaks.
Publisher: London: Chatto & Windus, 1911.
Edition: First trade edition of this illustrated version, following the limited Florence Press edition of 1908.
Language: Text in Middle English.
Pages: 107 pages.
Size: 10 x 8 inches.
Binding: Very good original publisher’s light grey cloth binding, simply and elegantly lettered in gilt to the upper board and spine, with blind-ruled borders to both boards. Spine somewhat darkened with age, with light rubbing and minor wear to the head and foot and a few small marks to the cloth, as shown. Hinges sound. Top edge gilt. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content, firmly bound and generally bright and clean. Scattered foxing and toning, more noticeable to the front endpapers and occasionally to plate margins and adjoining leaves, as shown. Contemporary ink presentation inscription to the front free endpaper, dated Christmas in Roman numerals, as shown. The text is printed attractively in double columns, with the title page in red and black.
Illustrations: Complete with twenty full-page color plates, comprising the frontispiece and nineteen further plates, each retaining its captioned tissue guard. Ten illustrations are by Keith Henderson and ten by Norman Wilkinson of Four Oaks. The plates remain richly colored and possess a distinctly Pre-Raphaelite and dreamlike character particularly well suited to the medieval allegory.
Estimate: USD $300–350.
The book: The Romaunt of the Rose is the Middle English adaptation traditionally associated with Geoffrey Chaucer of the enormously influential French Roman de la Rose, begun by Guillaume de Lorris in the thirteenth century and later continued by Jean de Meun. Framed as a dream vision, the poem transforms the pursuit of a rose into an elaborate allegory of courtly love, desire, virtue, temptation, and social convention. The surviving English Romaunt consists of three distinct translated fragments, and modern scholarship generally accepts Chaucer’s authorship only for the first, although the complete work was historically transmitted under his name.
This handsome 1911 Chatto & Windus edition reproduces the remarkable suite of illustrations created by Henderson and Wilkinson for the Florence Press edition of 1908. The earlier printing was issued in a limited edition, while this 1911 publication made the celebrated designs available in a trade edition. The twenty color plates give the volume a particularly refined Arts and Crafts and Pre-Raphaelite character.
The author: Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340s–1400) was an English poet, courtier, diplomat, and civil servant and is regarded as one of the foundational figures of English literature. Best known for The Canterbury Tales, he played a decisive role in establishing Middle English as a major literary language at a time when French and Latin remained dominant in learned and courtly writing.
Beyond poetry, Chaucer wrote on philosophy and astronomy and served the English Crown in a variety of administrative and diplomatic posts. His burial in Westminster Abbey became the nucleus of what is now known as Poets’ Corner.
The illustrators: Keith Henderson (1883–1982) was a Scottish painter and illustrator trained at the Slade School and in Paris. His long career encompassed portraiture, book illustration, poster design, and service as a war artist. The Romaunt of the Rose was among his earliest major book-illustration projects, and his richly detailed compositions reveal the influence of medieval and Pre-Raphaelite art.
Norman Wilkinson of Four Oaks (1882–1934) was an English illustrator and stage designer who used the designation “of Four Oaks” to distinguish himself from the better-known marine painter Norman Wilkinson. He worked extensively in theatrical scenery and costume and collaborated with Henderson on this edition, contributing ten of its twenty color plates. Their complementary work gives the volume its distinctive, ethereal visual character.