THE TALE OF KING COUSTANS THE EMPEROR. THE HISTORY OF OVER SEA.

THE TALE OF KING COUSTANS THE EMPEROR. THE HISTORY OF OVER SEA. One of a total edition of 545 copies Kelmscott Press – (Morris William) Hammersmith 1894 Translated out of the ancient French into English by William Morris. Hammersmith 1894. With ornamented woodcut double title and numerous initials by William Morris. Original holland-backed blue-gray paper boards, black lettering on upper cover, untrimmed edges One of 525 copies on Batchelor laid paper (total edition 545). – Typeset from the Chaucer Type, the running titles and the publisher's imprint were printed in red. This is a particularly charming little anthology of two Medieval French romances translated by Morris into his special brand of archaic-sounding English. The love stories involve, first, a commoner's marriage to the daughter of the pagan emperor of Byzantium and, second, the adventures that befall French lovers who are taken prisoner by Saracens during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Peterson A 26. – Tomkinson 114, 26 (with full-page illustration of the double title). – Ransome 328, 26 Near Perfect condition with no markings inside or out.