THE BENEDICTIONAL OF SAINT AETHELWOLD: A BURGUNDY COLOURED BOXED CASE, CONTAINING A LARGE LEATHER LIMITED EDITION BOOK, AND A SMALLER COMMENTARY BOOK, PUBLISHED BY THE FOLIO SOCIETY IN FINE CONDITION.

A beautiful burgundy cloth bound, boxed case, containing a burgundy coloured, leather bound, limited edition, hardback book, with gorgeous gilt titles on both the front board and spine. Also nicely enclosed within the boxed case is a smaller hardback book titled "Commentary" by Andrew Prescott. Both books and Boxed case are in fine condition, virtually unused or unread and as this is a used item normal wear, marks and tear apply consistent with use and age. The whole package is an absolutely stunning work of art, which one has come to expect from the publisher. This facsimile edition of The Benedictional of Saint AEthelwold has been reproduced from the original manuscript in The British Library through digital photography by Elizabeth Hunter, and printed at the Cambridge University Press on Phoenix Motion Xenon Paper. This edition of 1000 copies has been bound for members of The Folio Society by Smith Settle in full goatskin leather over bevelled boards, blocked with calligraphy by John Andrew, with handmade laid-paper endleaves from the Fabriano Mill. This is copy number 513. In the smaller book titled "The Benedictional of Saint AEthelwold Commentary" the book is set in Monotype Dante at The Folio Society . Printed in Great Britain by St Edmundsbury Press, Bury St Edmunds, on St Paul's Wove Paper. Bound by Cambridge University Press in buckram with Fabriano Roma handmade paper sides. The Benedictional of St AEthelwold is one of the most remarkable surviving products of the astonishing cultural resurgence in tenth-century England which reached its climax in the reign of King Edgar, who ruled from 959 to 975. This period saw the expansion and re-establishment of many monasteries which had been devasted by marauding Viking armies in the previous century, while forms of religious observance were brought into line with the latest continental standards. This religious upsurge was accompanied by an extraordinary flowering of cultural activities of all kinds. Not only did the Old English Literature encouraged by King Alfred at the end of the ninth century continue to flourish, but a vibrant Latin Literature developed which expressed its precocity through a fondness for elaborate imagery, involved grammatical formations and the use of an imposing vocabulary, often of Greek origin. Many illuminated manuscripts were produced which show, on the one hand, great expertise and sensitivity in drawing and design, and, on the other, a fondness for elaborate ornamentation, particularly the use of gold. Gold was a feature of the beautiful ornaments produced to furnish the rebuilt monasteries and churches. The Benedictional is the most lavishly decorated manuscript to have come down to us from Anglo-Saxon England. In the quantity and scale of its decoration it surpasses even the great insular books of the early Anglo-Saxon period, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels. The Benedictional is not just a great work of art; it is also a notable literary achievement. Many of the elaborate Latin Blessings contained in the manuscript were of English composition, and represent a substantial corpus of Latin composition from a country in which, not very long before, King Alfred had despaired of finding a man who could understand Latin. The Benedictional seems to have helped create a trend in England for the composition of such blessings, and episcopal blessing became on of the most distinctive products of the revived Latin culture in England. Moreover, the Benedictional was made for personal use of one of the leaders of this movement of cultural and spiritual revival in England, St AEthelwold, who was Bishop of Winchester from 963 until his death on 1st August 984. AEthelwold himself probably took an active personal interest in the artistic and liturgical contents of the manuscript. The Benedictional of St AEthelwold is a magnificent artistic achievement, one of the most decisive moments in the early process of the formation of the English nation.…