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The Golden Porch (1925)

Designs by Dugald Stewart Walker

To the left is shown a rare copy of The Golden Porch by W M L Hutchinson - illustrated by Dugald Walker - as published by Longmans, Green and Co. (New York) in 1925.   This copy shows the original decoratively blue-stamped brown cloth cover.             On the right is the Title Page.

The Golden Porch is Hutchinson's adaptation of the work of the Greek poet of Antiquity, Pindar. Hutchinson

provides an informative overview of the tale in his Preface thus:

The name of this book is borrowed from the Ode in which Pindar has enshrined the loveliest

of fairy stories - the "leaf-fringed legend" of the Pansy Child. The poet was bidden to prepare

that Ode in honor of a friend's victory in the Olympic Games, and he likens his task to the

building of a palace. Golden pillars, he says, must bear up the porch of this Hose of Song, and

the glories of the victor shall form those pillars, glittering afar in the sumptuous frontal of the

fabric. Now, chief among the victor's glories, was his descent from the namesake of the Pansy,

the holy Seer of Olympia, and so, through that Golden Porch, Pindar leads us into Fairyland.

In adding one more of the innumerable collection of stories from the Greek, I have hoped to

break fresh ground by reproducing the myths of Pindar's Odes, as far as possible in a free

translation, and with such addition only as were needed to form a framework. Some of these

legends are already wholly or partly familiar, but several will be new, I think, to English readers.

It may be said that Greek myths, especially as handled by the poet who wove into them his

deepest criticisms of life, are misleadingly, if not profanely, entitled fairy tales.

But I would plead the nothing in Greek literature, except the stories of Herodotus, is so steeped

in the true fairy atmosphere as are the myths of Pindar. I need not speak of Aeschylus, the

creatures of whose Titanic imagination belong to a universe of their own; but consider, for

example, the poet of the Odyssey. His wonder-world, though real, lies far away; Odysseus, he

makes us feel, has only to get back to Ithaca, and he has no more chance of encountering a

Cyclops or a Laestrygon than you or I have. For Pindar, on the contrary, all Hellas is enchanted

ground; it was in Arcadia, in Argos, in his own Thebes, that men of old fought uncanny

monsters, entertained divinity unawares, and learnt Earth's secrets from talking beasts and birds.

What wonder, if for him, living in such a land, and turning from the upheaval of a new era

to gaze fondly on an ideal past, that vanished world came alive again! At least, it is one charm

of his story-telling that he seems to be describing things he saw happen with his own eyes, and

another, that the marvels befall quite simply, and, so to speak, intelligibly, in the natural cause

of event.

To these essentials of the perfect fairy tale, Pindar adds the accepted dramatis personae - the

brave young prince, the wicked king, his foil, and the incomparably beautiful princess. And

always, as in fairy tales all the world over, the wicked king comes to a bad end while the

deserving hero lives happily ever after.

The legends of the Trojan War belong of course to a different category, for between the time

of Heracles and the time of Achilles the sun of the fairy age has set.

It should perhaps be mentioned that some of the stories here presented are put together from

the myths of several Odes, and most contain a good deal not to be found in Pindar. But where

I have used other sources, or invented details, I have tried firstly to introduce no version of

a myth no undoubtedly current in Pindar's day, and secondly to remember his maxim, that

"disparagement of the gods is a hateful art".

Walker's treatment of Hutchinson's adaptation of Pindar's Odes show a glorious appreciation of the form and

lines developed by artists in Antiquity - throughout both his extensive monotone suite of illustrations and his

wonderful colour frontispiece that is highlighted in lapis and turquoise.

Our Greeting Cards and Reproduction Prints

We have prepared sets of 20 Greeting Cards displaying the major monotone images from Walker's designs for The Golden Porch and on the left, we show an example of how these Greeting Cards appear. Again, ordering one of those sets is as easy as selecting the "Add to Cart" feature below and following the prompts provided with our Shopping Cart secured through PayPal. Multiple purchases will be consolidated by that feature and shipping and handling costs to any destination in the world are accommodated by our flat-rate fee of US$20 for every US$200 worth of purchases.   Code: DW GP MS(20) Price: US$100.00

When presented on Greeting Cards, these images are prepared as tipped-in plates - in homage to the hand-crafted

approach typical of prestige illustrated publications produced in the early decades of the 20th Century.

Hand-finishing is used to replicate the visual appearance of a tipped-in plate and the images are presented on

Ivory card stock (in the case of colour illustrations) or White card stock (in the case of monotone illustrations)

with an accompanying envelope. We have left the cards blank so that you may write your own personal

message.

Should you wish to order a Reproduction Print of one or more of these images, we have provided some

options below. Of course, should you wish to discuss some customised options, we welcome your contact

on any matter through ThePeople@SpiritoftheAges.com.

In the meantime, enjoy perusing these wonderful images from Dugald Walker.

The colour illustration

	Perseus Slays Medusa
	Greeting Card Code: DW GP C1 C Price: US$5.00
	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP C1 (10x15) Price: US$50.00

The major monotone illustrations

Chapter Title	The Favourite of the Gods	The Favourite of the Gods	The Favourite of the Gods
Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M1 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M2 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M3 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M4 (10x15) Price: US$50.00
The Prince who was a Seer	The Prince who was a Seer	Peleus and the Sea-King's Daughter	Peleus and the Sea-King's Daughter
Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M5 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M6 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M7 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M8 (10x15) Price: US$50.00
The Lad with One Sandal	The Lad with One Sandal	The Pansy Baby	The Pansy Baby
Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M9 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M10 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M11 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M12 (10x15) Price: US$50.00
The Heavenly Twins	The Isle of the Rose	The Isle of the Rose	The First Horse
Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M13 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M14 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M15 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M16 (10x15) Price: US$50.00
The First Horse	The First Horse	The Builders of Troy	The Builders of Troy
Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M17 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M18 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M19 (10x15) Price: US$50.00	Reproduction on 10x15'' sheet Code: DW GP M20 (10x15) Price: US$50.00

The monotone End Papers

End Papers   (Presented as a diptych)
A pair of reproductions on 10x15'' sheets Code: DW GP EP1|2 (10x15) Price: US$100.00