The Anabasis of Xenophon by Xenophon; Henry G. Dakyns (Translator); Robert Payne (Introduction); A. Tassos (Artist) - 1969

Athens: Printed for the Members of The Limited Editions Club by Aspioti-Elka Graphic Arts Inc, 1969. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. A. Tassos. No. 351 of 1500, quarto size, 273 pp., signed by A. Tassos, with LEC Monthly Letter and Announcement. Xenophon of Athens (ca. 431-354 BCE) was a man of many parts: a philosopher, an historian, a soldier, and one of "the greatest commanders of antiquity". As one of the soldiers in the army of "The Ten Thousand", Xenophon participated in an attempt by Cyrus the Younger to seize the throne of Persia from his brother, Artaxerxes II; Xenophon draws from his personal experiences as a soldier to write "Anabasis", at once both a history and a memoir. This publication by the Limited Editions Club is illustrated by Greek engraver Alevizos Anastasios Tassos (1914-1985), known for his woodcuts, who created highly stylised and colourful woodcuts of the trials and tribulations faced by the Greeks in battle. ___DESCRIPTION: Quarter black cloth with brown cloth boards, gilt lettering on the front board and spine, endpapers with four-colour maps, frontispiece a colour woodcut by Tassos, title page in red-violet and black, with woodcut of a bird, running heads printed in red-violet throughout, seven full-page colour woodcuts and numerous woodcuts in red-violet as well as black and white by Tassos throughout; Monotype Times Roman, Abbey Mills Glastonbury off-white antique laid paper, quarto size (11.25" by 8.75"), pagination: [1-6] 7-269 [270-272] [1 colophon], one of 1500 copies, this number 351, signed by A. Tassos on the colophon. With announcement, one sheet, and LEC Monthly Letter, one sheet folded once to make four pages, inside the LEC envelope, laid in. In glassine wrapper, housed in a slipcase covered in brown paper, with top and bottom edges of black cloth. ___CONDITION: A fine copy; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, as new. The announcement, LEC Monthly Letter and the envelope containing them are fine, clean and without wear. The glassine wrapper is near fine, clean, with only light edge wear to the head and tail of the spine and corners, and a shallow crease to the rear panel, else fine. The slipcase is near fine, strong and sturdy, clean but for the hint of a stray mark or two, with very light rubbing to the corners, and some sunning to the fore-edge. Overall a lovely example, one which does justice to both the artistic work of Tassos as well as the genius of Xenophon. ___CITATION: LEC Bibliography, no. 420. ___POSTAGE:  Please note that this is an unusually heavy volume and additional postage may apply; please inquire for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.