Folio Archives 455: The Golden Ass by Apuleius LE 2015
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1wcarter
The Golden Ass by Apuleius - FOLIO SOCIETY LIMITED EDITION 2015
Apuleius’ enormously entertaining and immensely influential novel is a work of genius that bursts out of its historical moment; one that has had an enormous influence on the history of the novel. It is also bawdy, funny, irreverent and outrageous.
The Golden Ass follows the story of Lucius, an itinerant young man who discovers witchcraft and turns himself into an ass. The book then follows his life in this humiliating form with multiple hilarious misadventures before the god Isis finally returns him to human form.
Apuleius, who was a native of Libya, wrote this in the second century AD. He moved from Africa to Athens then Rome where his varied career had him tried for witchcraft before being appointed as a priest in the Imperial Cult.
My copy is number 262 of 1000 and is signed and numbered by the illustrator, Quentin Blake who produced 46 illustrations in a mix of full-colour full-page pictures and integrated one colour sketches.
The 250 page book is introduced by James Wood and was translated by E. J. Kenney. It is set in Poliphilus and Blado and printed on heavy Old Mill Stucco paper.
It is fully bound in dark brown Indian goatskin leather blocked in gold foil with spine title and cover image. The endpapers are maroon/brown and the page tops are gilded. It is housed in a mid-brown slipcase with gilt tile blocked cover and measures 29.3x22.7cm. The original cost from the Folio Society was £345.
The Folio Society published a standard edition of the Golden Ass (The Transformation of Lucius) in 1960, that was also issued as a limited edition of only 75 copies.
1960 Standard Edition
1960 Limited Edition
2015 Limited Edition
The FS brochure for this book can be downloaded here.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
Apuleius’ enormously entertaining and immensely influential novel is a work of genius that bursts out of its historical moment; one that has had an enormous influence on the history of the novel. It is also bawdy, funny, irreverent and outrageous.
The Golden Ass follows the story of Lucius, an itinerant young man who discovers witchcraft and turns himself into an ass. The book then follows his life in this humiliating form with multiple hilarious misadventures before the god Isis finally returns him to human form.
Apuleius, who was a native of Libya, wrote this in the second century AD. He moved from Africa to Athens then Rome where his varied career had him tried for witchcraft before being appointed as a priest in the Imperial Cult.
My copy is number 262 of 1000 and is signed and numbered by the illustrator, Quentin Blake who produced 46 illustrations in a mix of full-colour full-page pictures and integrated one colour sketches.
The 250 page book is introduced by James Wood and was translated by E. J. Kenney. It is set in Poliphilus and Blado and printed on heavy Old Mill Stucco paper.
It is fully bound in dark brown Indian goatskin leather blocked in gold foil with spine title and cover image. The endpapers are maroon/brown and the page tops are gilded. It is housed in a mid-brown slipcase with gilt tile blocked cover and measures 29.3x22.7cm. The original cost from the Folio Society was £345.
The Folio Society published a standard edition of the Golden Ass (The Transformation of Lucius) in 1960, that was also issued as a limited edition of only 75 copies.
1960 Standard Edition
1960 Limited Edition
2015 Limited Edition
The FS brochure for this book can be downloaded here.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2BorisG
Thanks for the review, >1 wcarter:! I have this, as well as the LE Candide and La Fontaine fables, which were like a mini series – all three are joyous editions.
3BriainC
A beautifully illustrated edition. I'm not a huge fan of Apuleius having read some of the Metamorphoses in Latin but I do intend to pick up the equally lovely La Fontaine LE.
4wcarter
>2 BorisG:
Fifty Fables of la Fontaine and Candide have also been reviewed in the Folio Archives. See here.
Fifty Fables of la Fontaine and Candide have also been reviewed in the Folio Archives. See here.
