The Apocrypha. by BIBLE; English, Authorized - NASH, John, Eric Kennington, Eric Ravilious - 1929

London: The Cresset Press, 1929. One of 30 copies with an additional suite of plates signed by the artists Limited edition, number XI of 30 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 480 copies. One of the great books published by The Cresset Press, a press noted by Will Ransom as preserving "the highest standards in book-production".
The portfolio contains an additional suite of 14 plates, one for each book classified as apocryphal by the King James Version of 1611. Of these plates those by Eric Ravilious, M. E. Groom, John Nash, Hester Sainsbury, Gertrude Hermes, Frank Medworth, Wladislaw Skocaylas, D. Galanis, Stephen Gooden, Eric Jones, and Blair Hughes-Stanton are signed by the artists.
The apocrypha includes several tales which can be read as part of a wider folkloric tradition. These include the Book of Tobit, in which Tobias overcomes the demon Asmodeous in order to marry Sarah, and the heroic narratives of Daniel, against the dragon, and Judith, against Holofernes. The Book of Tobit has an almost fairy tale-like structure, with a romantic defeat of evil, and has been studied by folklorists for its incarnation of the story of the grateful dead, being "the first Hebrew literary treatment of this tale type" (Noy, p. 126). This motif, in which a traveller encounters a corpse of someone who did not receive a proper burial, reoccurs in mythology worldwide.
This copy is from the library of the bibliophile, publisher, and theatrical producer Crosby Gaige (1882-1949), with his bookplate on the front pastedown. Folio. Original black vellum, lettering to spine in gilt, top edge gilt. With additional suite of plates. Housed in original black cloth double slipcase. 14 wood-engraved plates by John Nash, Eric Kennington, Eric Ravilious, Blair Hughes-Stanton, René Ben Sussan, Frank Medworth, Gertrude Hermes, Leon Underwood, M. E. Groom, Wladislaw Skocaylas, Stephen Gooden, Hester Sainsbury, Eric Jones and D. Galanis. Rubbed at extremities, occasional scratches, some light offsetting, minor foxing to edges; else a very good copy. Some foxing to plates, else very good. Extremities of slipcase worn. Dov Noy, Folk Tales of Israel, 1963.