The Masque of Comus (1954)

Illustrated by Edmund Dulac

To the left, we show a rare copy of Milton's Comus illustrated by Edmund Dulac under commission of The Limited Editions Club (New York) in 1954.   This example retains the original vellum backed cover with marble boards.

The Masque of Comus was a 17th Century moral tale borne from a collaboration between John Milton and Henry Lawes.

It tells a story about virtue and grace, two matter upon which Milton had meditated profoundly. The tale is of a lady,

lost from her brothers in a wood, who is threatened by the son of Bacchus and Circe. The loss of her virginity follows

but through supernatural means, she is saved.

The original performance of The Masque of Comus was before the Earl of Bridgewater on the occasion of his becoming

Lord President of Wales. Performed at Ludlow Castle, the parts of the Lady and her two brothers were played by three

children of the Earl, and the part of "Thyrsis the Attendant Spirit" by Lawes himself.

Dulac's contribution to The Masque of Comus was published posthumously - he had died a year earlier. The illustrations

he prepared for the tale capture the naivety inherent in elements of the story, in addition to other central themes such as

Hope, Faith and Chastity.

Our Greeting Cards and Reproduction Prints

For connoisseurs of Dulac's work, we have prepared sets of 6 Greeting Cards displaying each of his colour images for The Masque of Comus and on the left, we show an example of how these Greeting Cards appear.             Code: ED MC CS(6) Price: US$30.00

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

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

hand-finished and and the images are presented on Ivory card stock with an accompanying envelope. The rear of each

card carries information about Edmund Dulac, this wonderful suite and the profiled illustration - we have left the interior

of 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.

Each of these large format prints is also accompanied by information about Edmund Dulac, this suite and the profiled

illustration.

To purchase, simply click on the appropriate "Add to Cart" button and you will be taken through to 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.

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 Edmund Dulac.

The colour illustrations

The huntress Dian her dread bow	Circe, the daughter of the Sun	Midnight shout, and revelry	The blind mazes of this tangled wood
Reproduction on 12x18" sheet Code: ED MC 1 (12x18) Price: US$60.00	Reproduction on 12x18" sheet Code: ED MC 2 (12x18) Price: US$60.00	Reproduction on 12x18" sheet Code: ED MC 3 (12x18) Price: US$60.00	Reproduction on 12x18" sheet Code: ED MC 4 (12x18) Price: US$60.00
Beauty ... had need the guard of dragon-watch	Behold this cordial julep
Reproduction on 12x18" sheet Code: ED MC 5 (12x18) Price: US$60.00	Reproduction on 12x18" sheet Code: ED MC 6 (12x18) Price: US$60.00