Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$3750.00 + shipping
Description: One of the Last Books Issued by the Ashendene Press ASHENDENE PRESS. HEWITT, Graily, [illustrator]. JOWETT, Benjamin, [translator]. THUCYDIDES. History of the Peloponnesian War. Translated into English by Benjamin Jowett. Chelsea: Printed at the Ashendene Press, 1930. Full Description: [ASHENDENE PRESS]. THUCYDIDES. [History of the Peloponnesian War]. Translated into English by Benjamin Jowett.Chelsea: Printed at the Ashendene Press, 1930. One of 260 copies on paper (240 for sale), out of a total edition of 280 copies (257 for sale). Folio (15 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches; 400 x 273 mm.). [6, blank], [1], [1, blank], 363, [1, printer's device] pp. Printed in black in Ptolemy type with three-line initials at the beginning of each chapter and the larger initials and opening line of each of the eight books designed by Graily Hewitt and printed in red. Marginal chapter summaries also in red in Blado Italic type. Printer's mark D printed in black. Publisher's white pigskin by W.H. Smith & Son, Ltd. Spine lettered in gilt with raised bands. All edges uncut. Spine very slightly darkened. Some minot rubbing to board edges and spine. Text is very clean. Overall a very good copy. "In February 1931 a Notice was sent out to subscribers announcing the forthcoming issue of âThucydides' and in it was foreshadowed the closing down of the Press. After referring to the projected edition of âDaphnis et Chloé' it goes on to say: âIt is more than probable that these two books will be the last to be issued from the Ashendene Press, with the possible exception of a Descriptive Bibliography of the Press.It is difficult to speak with certainty about the giving up of a hobby which has for more than 35 years occupied so many of my leisure hours, and I may be tempted to add yet another volume to the list.Another volume, âEcclesiasticus', was in due course.added to the list" (Ashendene Bibliography). Ashendene Bibliography XXXVII. HBS 69057. $3,750.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$5774.69 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: [2], 363pp, [1]. Full original pigskin by the W. H. Smith bindery, raised bands, spine in six panels, author and title to first panel, translator's name to second, publisher and date to foot. Spine slightly soiled, patch of discolouring to fore edge of lower cover, one or two small marks, page edges lightly browned, but generally internally quite bright and clean. Now housed in a cloth slipcase made by Temple Bookbinders. One of two hundred and eighty copies (with twenty on vellum), printed in Ptolemy type, with red side-notes in Blado italic, and red initials from the alphabet designed by Eric Gill for 'Utopia'), on Ashendene knight-in-armour paper. The opening line of each of the eight books was designed by Graily Hewitt, and is also printed in red. Franklin, 'The Ashendene Press', page 242; 'A Descriptive Bibliography of the Books Printed at The Ashendene Press', XXXVII Size: Folio
Seller: Temple Rare Books, Oxford, United Kingdom
Price: US$5868.50 + shipping
Description: Limited edition, one of 260 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 280; folio; printed in red and black, 3-line initials beginning each chapter by Graily Hewitt, printed marginalia, scattered light finger-soiling to margins, otherwise text clean and bright; original white pigskin by W.H. Smith & Son (gilt stamp to inner dentelle), gilt lettering to spine, light soiling to boards, overall a very good example. An excellent copy of the Ashendene Press Thucydides in the original pigskin, limited to 260 copies on paper (there were also 20 copies on vellum). The notice to subscriber's advertising the Ashendene Thucydides foreshadowed the closing of the press, noting 'It is more than probable that these two books [with Daphnis et Chloe] will be the last to be issued from the Ashendene Press, with the possible exception of a Bibliography of the Press, containing a number of specimen pages.' Hornby 37.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. Ashendene Press, Shelley House, Chelsea, 1930.
Price: US$6012.54 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Folio (395 x 270mm) 363pp, [1]- device, [6]- blank. Original white pigskin binding with thick bands and gilt stamped titles to top two compartments. Binding by W. H. Smith & Son, stamp to rear turn-in. Edition of 260 copies on paper, an additional 20 were on vellum. The boards a little soiled and yellowd, and darkened in some places, more so at the edges, spine toned, joints with visible rubbing from opening wear, the bands and compartments with light rubbing and nicking, with a larger and more visible (but light) surface scratch to the third compartment from top. Rear endpaper a little foxed, but otherwise clean throughout, in a solid binding. Provenance: Vyvyan Edwards, bookplate to front endpaper. [Hornby, 37].
Seller: Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
ASHENDENE PRESS ; THUCYDIDES. Thucydides [History of the Peloponnesian War]. , 1930.
Price: US$8982.86 + shipping
Description: Opening lines to each of the 8 books designed by Graily Hewitt and printed in red, Colin Franklin identifies that the accompanying 3-line initials, also printed in red, are taken from Eric Gill's alphabet for the 1906 Ashendene Utopia. Printed in Ptolemy type with marginal chapter summaries in Blado Italic. One of 260 copies printed on paper, with an additional 20 on vellum. Folio, 40 x 27.4cm, viii, 364pp. Original publisher's white pigskin, uncut, with cardboard packing container, possibly as issued from the press. Chelsea, the Ashendene Press. Very good, light rubbing to extremities and some very minor soiling to boards. Ownership signature of Lt. Commander Robert ?Robin? White of the Royal Navy (1904-1939). Translated by Benjamin Jowett, formerly Latin master of Balliol college. One of the final books to be issued from the press. Sydney Cockerell, writing in a letter to St. John Hornby, considered it ?one of the greatest of the many masterpieces of your Press? and C.R. Ashbee announced proudly that he would be ?placing your Thucydides into one of the principal corners of my Library? Although the official bibliography of the press fails to mention it, Colin Franklin points out that the large initial letters were designed by Eric Gill and mark the second appearance of those which he originally created for the Ashendene Utopia. Thucydides' text fits neatly into Franklin?s contention that the ?choice of books at the Ashendene Press was conservative, peaceful, domestic, occasionally amusing? (Colin Franklin, The Ashendene Press, p.103), however its contemporary significance in the fields of politics and historiography cannot be overstated. The 8 books of the History of the Peloponnesian War ?mark the longest and most decisive step that has ever been taken by a single man towards making history what it is today? (J.B. Bury, The Ancient Greek Historians, 1909), and Karl Popper considered Thucydides to be the ?greatest historian, perhaps, who ever lived? (The Open Society and Its Enemies, 1945). The notion of the ?Thucydides trap?, in which a rising political entity (Athens) threatens the established ruling power (Sparta) has become common parlance in discussions of modern international relations, and the work continues to have a profound influence on world leaders today.
Seller: Maggs Bros. Ltd ABA, ILAB, PBFA, BA, London, United Kingdom