Elegy Written In Country Courtyard, Gray 1899 Gloria Cardew. This book is titled "Elegy Written In A Country Courtyard", written by Thomas Gray and illustrated by R. W. A. Rouse, printed in London for the Guild of Women - Binders at Charing Cross Road, the illustrations were hand-colored by Gloria Cardew, it is a Special Edition on Japanese paper, and this is #17 of only 100 copies that were ever printed. The book has "Gray's Elegy" in gilt letters on the spine, linen covers, blank endpapers with a note on a paper label on the front paste-down which reads "Illustrations in this Book were coloured by hand by Miss Gloria Cardew", a limitation page that reads " Of this Special Edition on Japanese paper only 100 copies have been printed for the Guild of Women-Binders, of which this is No. 17", a frontispiece illustrated by Rouse and hand-colored by Miss Cardew, then the title page, a one-page List of Illustrations, there are 34 decorative color initials in manuscript style on the text pages, 49 pages altogether, and the book was printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. in London & Edinburgh. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is a poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and published in 1751. Its origins are unknown, but it's believed Gray was inspired by the death of poet Richard West. The Elegy became popular quickly; it was printed many times and in a variety of formats, translated into many languages, and praised by critics even after Gray's other poetry had fallen out of favor. Thomas Gray (1716 - 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and this is the poem he is widely known for. He was a self-critical writer who published only 13 poems in his lifetime, despite his popularity. He was even offered the position of Poet Laureate in 1757 after the death of Colley Cibber, though he declined. Robert William Arthur Rouse (1867 - 1951) was a British landscape painter born in Kennington and who lived in London and Brixton. He also did etchings and illustrations and was elected to the Royal British Artists in 1889, where he exhibited 64 paintings; he also exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Walker Art Gallery, the Manchester Art Gallery and many others. Gloria Cardew, whose label is on the front pastedown, was an extremely talented watercolorist whose work was sought for delicate hand-coloring of exquisite books in the 1890's, often working for the Guild of Women-Binders, as well as the Kelmscott and Vale Presses, and at times, she was commissioned by a London bookseller, Frank Karslake. Little is known of her; it is thought she was born around 1878 and her name was a pseudonym, but there is not much biographical information on her, though her photograph was published in the 1898 exhibition catalogue of the Guild of Women-Binders. The book is a thin 8vo. and measures 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. wide, with a pretty tight binding, a faded spine with light soiling, light soiling on the covers, light shadows or soiling on a couple of pages, light browning towards the gutters on some pages, a small crease on the edge of page 21, a tiny corner crease on the illustration between 22 and 23, the text and illustrations themselves are very clean, there's wear on the gutter inside the back cover, a thin red mark at the top of the spine, and specks of rubbing at the tips and some tips slightly turned in. Still a rare numbered and limited edition of a book illustrated and hand-colored by two noted artists at the turn of the century, and a worthwhile addition to a collector's library. #78 #1696