POGANY, Willy (illus.); COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor.

£10,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. First Pogány edition, signed extra limited issue, number 23 of 25 copies signed by the artist. Pogány's illustrated edition of Coleridge's famous long poem is one of the artist's most lavish undertakings and was clearly inspired by the grand medieval tradition of book illustration.This extra limited issue was "for sale in England and America". A further 525 signed copies were issued on paper, and there was also a standard trade issue.As noted by Richard Dalby, "Willy Pogány was Dulac's most successful European contemporary during the highest peak of the Golden Age of book illustration... The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was his most ornate and impressive production, with hand-scripted text, full-page black and white drawings and colour plates tipped-in on grey matte paper. This combination of illustration and calligraphic text by the artist was rarely repeated" (p. 87).

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