Fée Verte

Finishing up Rumpelstilskin tonight on my twitch stream HERE

Pair of Sword-Grip Ornaments (Menuki), Metropolitan Museum of Art: Arms and Armor

Gift of a Trustee of the Museum, 1917 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Copper, copper-gold alloy (shakudō)

An Old Comedy Feathursday

Perhaps the most noted ancient Greek text to feature birds prominently is Old Comedy master Aristophanes’s 5th-century BCE play The Birds. The play focuses on the character of Pisthetaerus (Trustyfriend), an Athenian who convinces the birds and their leader Epops (the Hoopoe (Upupa epops)) to create a great city in the sky, and thus regain their status as the original gods over the Olympians. Pisthetaerus eventually transforms into a bird-like god himself, replacing Zeus as king of the gods.

Today we present select pages from our 1959 Limited Editions Club production of The Birds with illustrations by American artist Marian Parry, an introduction by Dudley Fitts, design by Bert Clarke, and printing by Bert Clarke and David Jacques Way at their Thistle Press in 12-pt Bembo on specially-made paper from the Curtis Paper Company in an edition of 1500 copies signed by the artist.

Parry was a self-trained artist who began making handmade illustrated books for friends. One of these books came to the attention of the great American artist Ben Shahn, who championed her work, setting Parry on a professional career as an illustrator for books and magazines, as well as a successful author and poet. We just love her charming and witty ornithological illustrations for this Limited Editions Club production of The Birds!

View more posts featuring Limited Editions Club books.