I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Story of Joseph and his Brothers, The
New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1949. Item #04671
Joseph and his Brothers
Illustrated by Arthur Szyk
SZYK, Arthur, illustrator. The Story of Joseph and his Brothers. As told in the King James version of the Holy Bible & Illustrated by Arthur Szyk. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1949.
Limited to 2500 copies of which this is No. 138 and is signed in blue pencil by the general editor, Jean Hersholt.
Small folio (12 x 7 7/8 inches; 305 x 200 mm.). 51, [1, blank] pp. Fourteen mounted full color plates including nine-full page.
Publisher's brown cloth over boards, additional color plate onlaid onto front cover, spine sand front cover lettered in silver. A fine copy.
"The story of Joseph and his Brothers is told here in the beautiful language used by King James' translators of The Holy Bible. It is illustrated by Arthur Szyk and included in the series called the Evergreen Tales of which Jean Hersholt is General Editor; and it has been prepared, for special subscribers only, by The Limited Editions Club. The edition consists of twenty-five hundred numbered copies, of which this is number "138" and this copy is signed by "Jean Hersholt for Louise"
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was a graphic artist, book illustrator, stage designer, and caricaturist. Szyk was born into a prosperous middle-class Jewish family in Lodz, in the part of Poland which was under Russian rule in the nineteenth century. All of his life he worked both for his homeland and his faith. Before the second world war his work was renowned in Poland, France, and Great Britain. He moved to London in 1937 where he spent four years creating the magnificent paintings for the Haggadah. He moved to the USA in 1940 and his work became truly popular for his scathing caricatures of the Axis leaders Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito. His work was characterized by a rejection of modernism and its embrace of Medieval and Renaissance traditions, especially illuminated manuscripts. He illustrated such traditional works as Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, the Haggadah, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
Price: $450.00