This is a beautiful copy of Peronnik The Fool by George Moore, a limited edition that is signed by George Moore and Stephen Gooden, who did the engraving for the book, and it comes with the original slipcase. 

Size: 9 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. 

Peronnik was a character in Breton folklore, a poor country orphan who entered the castle Kerglas of the wicked magician Rogear in order to retrieve a stolen lance and cup, after many brave knights had failed. When he restores the stolen treasures to the rightful king, the land becomes fertile again and peace and prosperity return to the kingdom. The story parallels that of Percival, a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table who pursued the Holy Grail, a legendary cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper, and it parallels that of Peredur in Welsh folklore. 

The book is a limited edition published in London by George Harrap in 1933, the year that George Moore died. It is bound in vellum, with gilt lettering on the spine and front board, it has blank endpapers, then the limitation page, which was signed by Moore and is number 376 of only 525 copies, then the half-title, a frontis engraving and title page engraved by Gooden (there are nine engravings by Gooden altogether), 76 pages of text, and the book was printed by Walter Lewis at the University Press in Cambridge, according to a blank leaf at the rear. The top edge is gilt, and the book comes in the original slipcase with the original spine label numbered 376 as well.  

Stephen Gooden (1892 - 1955) was an English artist and illustrator who was best known as an engraver, mostly on copper, and George Moore sang his praises - Gooden was considered one of the finest engravers of his era, and Moore compared Gooden to Durer - he even designed  banknotes for the Bank of England. Gooden’s works can be found in collections at the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others.  

The book measures 9 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches wide and is in great condition, with a tight binding and clean pages and text. The pages are bright, there is light offset from some of the engravings, light wear on the slipcase, and that’s basically it, and a terrific copy of this limited edition by George Moore.   

#6157