Folio Archives 15: Gormenghast trilogy 1992

In trying to describe the Gormenghast trilogy, my first thoughts were that it was cross between the Arthurian legends, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, but that it is not correct – it is just Gormanghast, a genre of its own.

The books were written by Mervyn Peake between 1946 and 1959, but the third volume was not completed before his death, and has been built up into its final form by the editor Langdon Jones from the extensive notes left by Peake.

The three books, Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone (they should be read in that order) follow the life of Titus Groan, the 77th in a constant line of hereditary rulers over the mock medieval realm of Gormanghast. The action in the first two books is set around the massive and extensive stone castle of Gormenghast, its surrounding forest and village of the neighbouring mud people. The castle extends for miles and is a maze of often abandoned rooms, halls, passageways, stairways, tunnels, courtyards and walls.

The characters are intricately described, and while some remain through a considerable part of the story, others disappear as suddenly as they arrive. All have unusually imaginative and descriptive names from the ever-present Dr. Prunesquallor and the loyal servant Flay, to the anti-hero Steerpike, the nanny Mrs. Slagg, Titus’s sister Fuchsia and the chef Swelter.

The third book, Titus Alone, takes the reader into a totally different time and place that is a confused mixture of the 13th. and 21st. centuries. It is a less satisfying read than the first two, but even here there are fascinating characters, such as Titus’ mentor Muzzelhatch.

These must be some of the most profusely illustrated books ever produced by the Folio Society, as there are a huge number of black and white drawings of the various scenes set in the book (I counted 16 in a random selection of 100 pages), but in none of the drawings are any of the principal characters depicted, these are left to the reader’s imagination. Some drawings are double page spreads.

The excellent and innumerable drawings are by Peter Harding and there is a ten page introduction by Michael Moorcock.

The three volumes consist of Titus Groan (66 drawings 422 pages), Gormenghast (73 drawings 450 pages) and Titus Alone (53 drawings 247 pages). They are housed together in a slipcase 26.5x18.9x10.1cm., and are typeset in Ehrhardt, printed at the Bath Press on Monument Wove paper. Bound in white cloth printed with a wrap-around design in black by Harding. Dark red endleaves. Dark red and black three-volume slipcase titled in black on covers.

There were two FS editions of the Gormenghast trilogy. Mine is from 1992, but there was a second edition, in a slightly different binding, in 2011.

Whether or not you enjoy fantasy, science fiction or imagined history, these books are a compelling read, and I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone interested in good imaginative writing.









TITUS GROAN






































































GORMENGHAST






































































TITUS ALONE
































































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

This has been a great series, Warwick. I think I learn something new every time. Keep up the good work!

Much appreciated, both the text and the many photos!

I was tempted to look for the FS edition of Peake's novels, and may still at some point. I do like the Overlook Press hardback edition, especially as they include Peake's own illustrations. Not quite so many as Harding provides, though!

>3 elenchus: Overlook version is smyth-sewn and illustrated by Mervin Peake, in a “Note on illustrations”, it says that there are more than 100 of them. But – I have both editions, and there is no comparison between them. In fact, “Gormenghast” (2011) was the very first FS I bought secondhand. It’s substantial, tall and heavy, not unlike the Castle itself, the illustrations are very appropriate and plentiful, and the paper is about 10 times better than in the other version. It’s a pleasure to hold and it smells good. -) And, of course, FS version is clothbound, while the other one is paperbound, though not unattractively. Both editions have an introduction by Michael Moorcock.

That's what I was afraid of! I think I'll continue to look for the FS edition, especially as I've never held it in my hands. Probably it will be another work that I own several editions, can't choose just one over all the others.

>5 elenchus: another work that I own several editions

…in a couple of languages… Oh, yes, I can certainly relate to that – having three sets of Jane Austen, 5 Moby Dicks and 5 Ulysses. It's not that I collect as many copies of a certain œuvre as I can; I just try to find a perfect embodiment of my favourite texts. And in case of Ulysses, I’ve hunted down that Holy Grail of mine at last – FS monster is perfect.

Sorry for OT ;)

Every time I make a decent dent in my wish list, it grows back again quickly, partly because of such irresponsible enablers as >1 wcarter:!

P.S. Many thanks for starting the Archives series, great contribution!

No doubt my personal taste, but I was disappointed by the FS illustrations.... in my mind the castle would be granite - cold and harsh and unforgiving, not the weathered roundness of sandstone.

From what I can see (online) of the Peake illustrations, they are quirky, full of the the irrelevance of faded grandeur (which was partly his point?) and the characters, while human, have an unsettling out-of-proportion look.

Not disputing the work is a brilliant one-off unclassifiable read!

I think Gormenghast was a free set I received with my annual membership, early on in my FS collecting, and it remains a favorite. I have the newer binding, with the titles in a horizontal red block across the top of each book, but I think mine was from the '90s as well (or possibly early '00s).

>1 wcarter: Great article, as ever, and as you comment this must be one of the most copiously illustrated FS fiction sets.
I have the 2011 third printing and I will try to post a photo later.
I received a print from the books with my set, although I have no idea where it has hidden itself.

>10 CarltonC: I have the print, framed and hung in my entrance hall. And also the 2011 3rd printing in black and red slipcase with "Gothic" gold printing and a red cartouche on the spine rather than that heavy block lettering.

For fans of Titus Groan:
While browsing in a local store a few years ago I came across Boy in Darkness, a short story published by Wheaton and Co in the UK, as part of a series called "Literature for Life". An interesting little read illustrated by the author. It contains an introduction by Maeve Gilmore the authors widow.

I saw an exhibitions of Peake's books and illustrations at the Maison d'Ailleurs in Yverdon several years ago. Among the interesting ones are Letters from a Lost Uncle, Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor, of course Mr Pye, and he illustrated Alice in Wonderland, the Hunting of the Snark, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, All This and Bevin Too (Quentin Crisp), CEM Joad's The Adventures of a young soldier in search of a better world, and nursery rhymes, among others.

Some photos in my flickr album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsjoqtbsU

2011 edition



And the Outlook edition with several illustrations

>14 shelob: Thanks for posting the illustrations. I always having difficulty posting them, as I do so infrequently.

>15 CarltonC: you’re welcome
>13 overthemoon: 'an exhibitions of Peake's books and illustrations' – I saw them in your flikr album and was impressed.

If someone’s interested, here is the list of books written & illustrated by Mervyn Peake.
And here and here there are some sketches.
It’d be nice to see some of them in an FS book, I think.

I have a portfolio of Peake's illustrations for the Libanus Press Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and they are wonderful.

My copy is the 2000 second edition, and the binding appears to be identical to the 2011 third edition.

Thank you! Something new to look forward to.

Well. I just finished this trilogy, which I was so lucky to find in the 1992 edition for $50USD in my local bookshop. I was not looking to spend that kind of money (they were having a $1 sidewalk sale and I wasn't even expecting the actual shop to be open during the pandemic) but you don't hesitate when you see a FS treasure you may never run across again.

The tale was unique and unusual and well worth reading through the awkwardness it made me feel. But the language alone made it delightful. I was constantly looking up the words and delighting in the expressions that Peake used. I'll be turning this one over in my brain for a long time and then will have to re-read it.

"To say a party was in progress would be a mean and cheese-paring way of putting it."

Cheese-paring is a known phrase for miserliness, i believe, although i don’t know if Peake is responsible for it.

Among my 20 or so Alice in Wonderlands, i have a nice little boxset of Wonderland and Looking Glass illustrated by Peake - he is a good choice for uncanny-valley works.

Don't forget that Folio's edition of Balzac's Droll Stories is illustrated by Peake - and can still be had for very little money without searching too hard.

I think that Folio went the right way with the illustrations. Peake's drawings are almost like photographs of the characters as anything else - when you see them they embody the person on the page and in your head to an astonishing degree. Also, at the time the trade hardbacks of the trilogy (and very handsome books they were too) - maybe Allen Lane? - had the Peake drawings back-to-back in clusters in the middle of the books, so making the castle the main subject of the illustrations was a great idea, - and wasn't the artist a student, or had just left college? Something like that, and perhaps could be worked hard for not a great deal of money!

>22 red_guy:

I have two editions by Overlook Press, each with Peake's own drawings. I was tempted by the Folio, as I recall, but realised I'd never part with Peake's illustrations. I don't regret that, though if I stumble across a used copy I'm sure I'll be sore tempted.

First I would have to decide if I need both the 3-volume Overlook edition and the omnibus edition. I haven't yet confirmed they each contain the same illustrations and reproduced equally well.

>23 elenchus: You can never have too much Peake, and I would make room for them all!

>21 Petrichory: Ha ha, yes, I got that impression from the context. But I loved all the unknown expressions (to a U.S. English speaking culture) as well as the farrago of words I had to look up. His vocabulary was expansive and he like to use it in his writing. And I loved that. His amazing ability to describe scenes and characters and emotions was fun to read (not really a farrago at all, but I wanted to use one of his words).

I see that Eyre and Spottiswoode is the true first of his work. Unclear from the descriptions that they are illustrated like the ones mentioned above. The ones I looked at only said the dust jackets were illustrated by him. A cool $8000 for a set of true signed firsts. A couple of beautiful rebinds (but then you might lose his dust jacket illustration?) for a few grand. I will search out his illustrations although they'd have to be might impressive for me to splash cash for Overlook paperbacks. According to my own twisted book budgeting rules, I could buy another set with his illustrations because I DO plan to have a re-read before I go to the great library in the sky.

>25 jveezer: The E&S first editions were not illustrated other than a drawing on the Title page, however, they put out a second edition in the late 1960's that included several drawings and plates with Peake's illustrations throughout the text. Detailed bibliography for Mervyn Peake both as author and illustrator can be found at the Peake Studies website:

https://www.peakestudies.com/contents.htm

It is an outstanding reference.

My review of the Gormenghast trilogy in the Folio Archives series was written four years ago. The original review had 15 pictures of mediocre quality.

With rumours that a Folio Society limited edition of Gormenghast is imminent, I decided that it was time to revisit this review. It now has 106 (possibly too many) higher quality pictures and a revised written description.

Go to the beginning of this thread to see the review.

>27 wcarter: Thanks for the update!

This is another one that I am very grateful to you, Warwick, for the enablement - and another one I've had on the shelf for a while but got around to reading earlier this year (the first volume at least - I am rationing myself!). What an extraordinary piece of writing and work of imagination. I can't think of anything else like it - either in terms of story or style - which itself is remarkable.

>1 wcarter: Wow! Profusely and wonderfully illustrated. Thank you so much for taking the time to take and post the high quality photos. I think any LE will be hard pressed to beat the standard edition in terms of illustrations.

I have the '92 printing and I probably acquired this as a member rejoin enticement; I now can't recall. I would be very, very interested to see a Folio LE version.

I too have the 1992 edition. I very rarely laugh out loud when I am reading anything - but Peake's description of Irma Prunesquallor's struggle with the hot-water bottle reduced me to such helpless laughter that I had to keep putting the book down and picking it up again to read on. It is the only time in my life that I have laughed until my sides ached. However, each to their own and YMMV.