When you are a bookseller potentially everything can remind you of a book that you’ve sold. Not long ago I saw a story online about the recent release of a new film adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight . Naturally it reminded me of an illustrated copy of the the book that I sold many years ago. That edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was published by the Limited Editions Club in 1971. The publisher’s announcement describes the book in detail:

“…twelve full-page ‘resist’ drawings, a two-page drawing for the title spread, and numerous tailpieces and incidental decorations, all printed in Sepia. Frank Lieberman designed the volume and drew the large initials which open each stanza. He chose Goudy ‘Thirty’ type for the Middle English text and Poliphilus for the modern English, both in the sixteen-point size… The light tan Arak paper is a rag wove watermarked stock made specially for this edition at the Curtis Paper Mill… The text was set by Westcott & Thomson in Philadelphia… The binding is in natural coarse Irish linen, stamped on the shelf-back with the title and a series of decorations reflecting the medieval text.”

This terrific edition was printed by the Meriden Gravure Company, with illustrations by Cyril Satorsky The book was published in an edition of 1500 copies signed by Satorsky.