The Life of Saint Christopher
London: At The De La More Press, 1903. First edition. Octavo (8 inches tall), original beige paper boards, front panel printed in black, uncut, 18 pages. Faint offsetting to blank flyleaves, slight edge-wear to spine ends and corners. A near-fine copy. Item #1833
"WONDER NOT, CHRISTOPHER, FOR THOU HAST NOT ONLY BORNE THE WORLD, BUT HIM WHO MADE THE WORLD, UPON THY SHOULDERS"
De La More Press edition of the Martyrdom of Saint Christopher—the "Canaanitish Giant and Christ-Bearer." Illustrated with a frontispiece after Albrecht Dürer and decorated on the front board, half-title, and colophon by Blanche MacManus. Rare.
A popular saint of the Middle Ages, and the Patron Saint of Travellers, Christopher is a legendary saint without historicity. A brief Foreword, borrowed from Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, asserts: "Among the religious parables of the middle ages, there is not one more fanciful and more obvious it its application than the story of St. Christopher." Sourced from the Golden Legend by Jacobus Voragine (1275), the text was translated into English by William Caxton in the late fifteenth century. The image of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child was a favorite for Dürer. St. Christopher's feast day, July 25, was removed from the calendar in 1969 and is no longer observed in the Roman Catholic Church. Founded in 1902 by Alexander Moring, and working in the Arts & Crafts tradition, the De La More Press released finely printed, artistic books during its peak years between 1902 and 1925.
Price: $350.00