A Fine Press Bibliography of Ancient Myths

Many of us on this board have a wonderful collection of fine press editions of ancient myths on their shelves. I would like to tap the collective knowledge of our community to compile a comprehensive bibliography of notable editions.

Please share the references (author, title, publisher, date of publication) and perhaps pictures of fine press editions that you highly recommend. I will regularly update this first post with links to your suggestions.
My idea is to arrange the references thematically rather than taking a genealogical or chronological approach as it is often found in handbooks of mythology. This renders the bibliography more accessible to those who are not intimately familiar with ancient mythology.

A Fine Press Bibliography of Ancient Myths

Ancient Mesopotamian Mythology
Enūma Eliš, No Reply Press, 2021, >3 Shadekeep:

A Babylonian Anthology, Bird & Bull Press, 1966, >36 ultrarightist:

Egyptian Mythology
The book of the dead : a collection of spells, Limited Editions Club, 1972, >65 Glacierman:

Hindu Mythology
Bhagavad Gita: The Song Celestial, The Limited Editions Club, 1964, >64 SyllicSpell:

Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology
Of Gods and Heroes: Mythographies, Catasterisms, and Collected Stories
Homerische Hymnen, Manesse Drucke, 1983, >55 SebRinelli:
Publius Ovidius Naso, Les Metamorphoses d‘Ovide, Aux dépens d‘un groupe de bibliophiles amis de l‘artiste, 1953, >55 SebRinelli:
Gaius Hyginus, The Poeticon Astronomicon, The Allen Press, 1985 >42 SebRinelli:
Aratus, Phenomena, King Library Press, 1975 >41 SebRinelli:
Bulfinch, The Age of Fable, The Limited Editions Club, >50 astropi:

Hésiode, Pandora, Les Pharmaciens Bibliophiles, 2006, >63 SebRinelli:
William Morris, The Story of Cupid and Psyche, Clover Hill Editions, 1974, >2 SebRinelli:

The Life of Heracles
The Twelve Labours of Hercules, St James Park Press, 2017, >29 ChestnutPress:

Minos, Theseus, and Myths of Crete
Algernon Charles Swinburne, Pasiphaë, The Golden Cockerel Press, 1950, >32 ChestnutPress:

The Theban Mythology from Cadmos to the Theban Wars
Euripides, The Bacchae, The Allen Press, 1972, >57 SebRinelli:
Sophocles, Antigone, The Allen Press, 1978, >57 SebRinelli:

Jason and the Argonauts
Appollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica or, The Quest of Jason for the Golden Fleece, Limited Editions Club, 1957, >12 Glacierman:

The Trojan War and Return of the Greek Heroes
Homer, Iliad, The Limited Editions Club, 1931, >28 ChestnutPress:
Homer, Odyssey, The Limited Editions Club, 1931, >28 ChestnutPress:
Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, Longmans, Green & Co, 1901, >67 SebRinelli:
Aeschylus, The Oresteian Trilogy, The Allen Press, 1982, >56 SebRinelli:
Aeschylus, The Agamemnon of Aeschylus, Rampant Lions Press, 1969, >58 Shadekeep:
Virgil, The Aeneids of Virgil, Longmans, Green & Co, 1901, >67 SebRinelli:

Celtic Mythology
The Mabinogion, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948, >9 Glacierman:
Pwyll, Prince of Dyved A medieval tale from the Mabinogion. Translated by Lady Charlotte Guest, Gwydir Press, 2013, >9 Glacierman:

Mayan Mythology
Popol Vuh, Limited Editions Club, 1954, >33 Glacierman:

Native American Mythology
Hancibyjim, The Maidu Creation Myth, Native Images Press, 2002, >8 Shadekeep:

The Corn Maidens Dance and its Greek Analogies, Grabhorn Press, 1955, >61 Shadekeep:

Cushing, Sh'a A-la-k'o Mana: Ritual of Creation (Hopi), Grabhorn Press, 1957, >60 Shadekeep:

William Morris, The Story of Cupid and Psyche, Clover Hill Editions, 1974

Full title: The Story of Cupid and Psyche, with illustrations designed by Edward Burne-Jones, mostly engraved on the wood by William Morris

Colophon: This publication, the eighth of the Clover Hill Editions, consist of: 130 copies, numbered I to CXXX, each with a portfolio containing a set of collotype prints of the 47 original 'Cupid and Psyche' drawings and set of proofs of the 44 wood-engravings.
270 copies numbered 1 to 270.
100 portfolios numbered i to c, each containing a set of proofs of the 44 wood-engravings.

This edition has been previously introduced by dlphoracl to this board as one of the great fine press books (reviewed here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/315984#7050215). It is a superb rendering of the 4th book of Apuleius' The Golden Asse, printed by Will and Sebastian Carter at the Rampant Lions Press on Barcham Green Paper. The 130 copies (I to CXXX) were bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. These three names alone suggest that this is an extraordinary edition even by fine press standards.

Enūma Eliš
anonymous author(s); translation by Griffin Gonzales
No Reply Press, 2021

Precis: The Enūma Eliš, the Babylonian epic of creation, is a literary masterpiece. The fact that it is among the oldest surviving creation myths, a foundational text from a foundational civilization, should not obscure its other qualities. Its drama is timeless and yet still shocking. It has patricide, monsters and battles, moments of extreme cruelty and kindness. Add to this the fact that, to its audience, it explained in a very real way the creation of earth and mankind (everything really), and it certainly lives up to the promise of an “epic.”

Editions: STANDARD (250 copies, numbered 1 through 250), VELLUM (100 copies, numbered in roman numerals I through C), DE LUXE (26 copies, lettered A through Z)

>1 SebRinelli:

The most obvious choice is Aesop's Fables and there are numerous outstanding editions of this classic - it is a charter member of Private Press Royalty. That said, I will try to add a few titles that are not on everyone's radar screen over the course of the week.

Daphnis and Chloe
Longus; translated by Christopher Collins
Imprint Society, 1972

Precis: 152 pp. 8vo. Turquoise leather spine over paper-covered boards, gilt titles. Designed and produced in Switzerland by Max Caflisch, printed on Zerkall laid paper. Includes seventeen aquatints created by Felix Hoffmann specially for this edition. Translated from the original Greek by Christopher Collins. The only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek novelist and romancer Longus. A tender novel describing eager and inept young love, Daphnis and Chloe tells the story of a baby boy and girl who are discovered separately, two years apart, alone and exposed on a Greek mountainside. Taken in by a goatherd and a shepherd respectively, and raised near the town of Mytilene, they grow to maturity unaware of one another's existence until the mischievous god of love, Eros, creates in them a sudden overpowering desire for one another. A masterpiece among early Greek romances, attracting both high praise and moral disapproval, this work has proved an enduringly fertile source of inspiration for musicians, writers and artists from Henry Fielding to Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Maurice Ravel. Longus transforms familiar themes from the romance genre including pirates, dreams, and the supernatural into a virtuoso love story that is rich in insight, humorous and ironical in its treatment of human sexual experience.

I expect you'll be able to add multiple versions of Beowulf to this list.

>1 SebRinelli:

Quick thoughts:

1. King Harald and the Icelanders, Penmaen Press, 1979
2. The Icelandic Sagas ( 2 volumes), Folio Society, 2002
3. The Poetic Edda, Folio Society Ltd. edition, 2016.
4. Laxdaela Saga, Folio Society, 1975
6. The Gododdin, Dolmen Editions, 1977
7. The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, Philip Lee Warner for the Medici Society 1912.
8. Celtic Myths and Legends, Folio Society, 2006.
9. The Tain (translated from the Irish Tain Bo Cuailnge by Thomas Kinsella), Dolmen Editions, 1969.
10. The Mabinogion, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948
11. The True Historie of Lucian the Samosatenian, Golden Cockerel Press, 1927.

The Maidu Creation Myth (4 Volumes)
traditional; related by storyteller Hancibyjim
Native Images Press, 2002

Precis: This book is a joint effort of William Shipley’s translation of the Maidu Creation myth and the images of Daniel O. Stolpe. Editions of sixty-five numbered copies and twenty-six lettered copies printed in Weiss and Doulos on Arches Cover White. Four translators, two printers, and eight artist’s copies printed for the contributors. Letterpress printing by Peter Koch of Berkeley, full linen binding by Taurus Bindery of San Francisco

1. The Greek Myths, 2 vols. Folio Society.

2. The Mabinogion. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. 4, 5-266 pp, 1. Illustrations by Dorothea Braby; limited to 550 numbered copies. New ranslation from the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones. The Oracle's No. 11 above.

3. Pwyll, Prince of Dyved A medieval tale from the Mabinogion. Translated by Lady Charlotte Guest (later Schreiber). Gwydir Press, Gwydir Castle, Llanrwst, Conwy, North Wales, 2013. 4, 62 pp, 8 pls (linocuts). Illus. Peter Welford. 140 copies, signed by the illustrator. Quarter green goatskin with rust colored marbled boards, linocut illustration to upper cover. Spine, titles in gilt. Internally, green endpapers, half title, title page with red and black inks; in a hand bound, green cloth slipcase. Printed by Kenneth Burnley on a Franklin Platen Press, illustrated with 8 fine woodcuts, by Peter Welford, each numbered and signed by the artist, and hand bound by Judy Corbett.

Limited Editions Club did Bulfinch’s Age of Fable; Daphnis and Chloe; The Golden Ass; Cupid and Psyche; the Argonautica; Metamorphoses; the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid; and Beowulf.

>1 SebRinelli:

1. Hero and Leander - multiple private press editions.
2. Venus and Adonis - "

Per >10 jsg1976: above:

Appollonius of Rhodes. Argonautica or, The Quest of Jason for the Golden Fleece. Athens: Printed for the members of the Limited Editions Club by Aspioti-Elka Graphic Arts Co., 1957. 13" x 9-3/4"; xix, 307 1 pp.; Illustrations by A. Tassos. Decorated pale gray cloth in slipcase. Text on facing pages of Greek and English. 1500 copies signed by illustrator.

>1 SebRinelli: Do you consider folk tales in this category??

>13 Glacierman: I was wondering that too. I was sticking pretty much to myth, if you open it to folk and fairy tales then it gets exponentially larger.

>13 Glacierman: I wasn’t very precise about this in my initial post but I agree with >14 Shadekeep:. Adding folk tales could overburden this thread. Perhaps somebody else wants to take up the challenge and open another thread dedicated to folk and fairy tales.

>15 SebRinelli: If it's only myths then The Golden Ass wouldn't exactly qualify. The Cupid and Psyche section of that book would, but that's only a (lengthy) side track from Apuleius' original main story.

I'm still looking for a good version of The Golden Ass. I know there are some nice stand alone Cupid and Psyche excerpt versions, but anyone have recommendations for the full book?

>16 NoBueno:

Depends upon what your price range is.

>15 SebRinelli: That's what I assumed. Like Shadekeep said, it would expand greatly if folktales were included, including such things as the LEC Irish Folktales. So, mythology only, then.

Thank you to everyone who contributed so far. I‘ll keep updating the bibliography.

>16 NoBueno:
The XI Bookes of the Golden Asse Containing the Metamorphose of Lucius Apuleius, Ashendene Press, 1924
The Golden Ass, Folio Society Limited Edition, 2015, reviewed here: https://booksandvines.com/2015/08/10/the-golden-ass-by-apuleius-illustrations-by...
The Golden Ass, Limited Editions Club, 1932, reviewed here: https://booksandvines.com/2014/03/03/the-golden-ass-by-lucius-apuleius-limited-e...

>3 Shadekeep:

I wish I'd known about this book before it was sold out. Does anyone have advice on where a copy of the No Reply Press 'Enūma Eliš' might turn up? I saved a search on Abebooks as best I could (they don't accept this spelling), but I don't usually search for rare titles like this.

>20 SF-72: Since it sold out mainly through Kickstarter, you're more likely to find it from individual sellers on eBay, Facebook groups and the like, rather than from bookstores on Abebooks. This is also about the earliest you'd start to see secondary copies show up for sale, since shipping is just wrapping up.

>20 SF-72: they’re just now being shipped out, so it may be a little while before any turn up in the secondary market, unless someone has buyer’s remorse

>20 SF-72: As others have said, it's still in the process of going out (hoping to get mine soon, got the shipping slip notification). Demand for it was quite high, as you would expect for something as unique as this. So it may be a while before one lands on the market, I'm afraid. Having a notification alert set for when one becomes available is a good idea, hopefully you'll get lucky. There are some books I despaired of ever getting that I finally secured through a combination of persistence and dumb luck, so it does happen.

The Story of Burnt Njal
traditional; translated by George Webbe Dasent
Edmonston and Douglas, 1861 (2 volumes)

Precis:Tenth century Icelandic epic saga. Oral telling likely coterminal with the Poetic Eddas. The printing predates the widespread use of offset lithography, so it is assumed to be letterpress (but I'm no expert there). The two books also include maps and are very attractively bound.

Sidenote: Text of this translation is available online here.

>21 NathanOv:
>22 jsg1976:
>23 Shadekeep:

Thank you very much for your help, that's all good to know. I'm not on Facebook, but hopefully Ebay will turn something up via the saved search. Or if anyone here should have buyer's remorse after all, a private message would be very welcome. Not that I expect that to happen, more's the pity.

>19 SebRinelli: Thanks for the links. That LEC version looks quite nice and I've always been happy with the LECs I've bought.

I was aware of the Folio one but I'm not a Quentin Blake fan. He's fine for children's books but I prefer a more adult style for books written for adults.

>1 SebRinelli: I think you might be biting off more than any man would comfortably wish to chew here, as the number of volumes that fit the category will be huge! I certainly admire what you wish to achieve and I will list the handful of such items I own. It's not many, as myths and legends aren't really in my collecting sphere, but some is better than none!

‘The Odyssey’ and 'The Iliad' by Homer (in Alexander Pope’s translation). Published in 1931 by The Limited Editions Club in a 1,500 two-volume set.
Designed by Jan van Krimpen at Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, and printed by them in Romanée roman with Van Dijck italic on Pannekoek paper made specifically for the edition (featuring watermarks of the book title, the publisher, the printer and the paper maker).

‘The Twelve Labours of Hercules', featuring a wood engraving by Harry Brockway, of which the individual border sections are used throughout. This very fine edition was the first book designed and printed by James Freemantle for his London-based St James Park Press. Set in Centaur and printed on Japanese Sunome Senaka paper and stab-sewn into covers of Amate, a gorgeous paper handmade in Mexico from bark.
The edition was published in 2017 in an edition of 40 copies, half of which had pale green covers while the other half had brown.

'King Arthur: Excalibur', with wood engravings by Jane Randfield. Designed and printed by James Freemantle at St James Park Press in Dante with Saxondale Black, Legende and Edina on Zerkall and Zerkall Ingres mould-made papers. Published in 2020 in an edition of 65 standard copies on Zerkall and Zerkall Ingres mould-papers, softbound in BFK Rives mould-made paper covers printed with a large red cross, and 35 specials on Zerkall mould-made, Maureen Richardson handmade and Paper Foundation handmade papers, hardbound in Japanese Kozo paper printed with a large red cross. The specials come with a grey Fabriano Mi Teintes mould-made paper portfolio containing the wood engravings printed on Japanese Kozo paper, and both book and portfolio are contained in a red cloth solander box.

‘Fabulae Aesopiae’, with illustrations and initial letters cut in wood by Jorge Lar, based on some from a German incunable. This gorgeous edition, an adaptation of William Caxton’s 1484 translation and printing of 'Aesop’s Fables’ was designed and printed by Jorge Lar at Prelo, Maribo, Denmark, in Nürnberger Schwabacher on a random mixture of two slightly different batches (colour and texture differ a little) of paper handmade at Museo della Carta e della Filigrana (Paper and Watermark Museum), Fabriano, Italy. Published in 2021 in an edition of 34 copies in a beautifully simple limp vellum (goat parchment) medieval binding by Chris Wenzel at Kopert, Hamburg, Germany.

‘Pasiphaë’ by Algernon Charles Swinburne, illustrated with copper engravings by John Buckland-Wright. Designed and printed by Christopher Sandford at Golden Cockerel Press, London, UK, in Bembo on an unspecified mould-made paper. Published in 1950 in an edition of 400 standard copies hardbound in blue and yellow cloth, and 100 special copies hardbound in burgundy vellum, featuring an extra engraving.

But is the Arthurian cycle of Medieval romances mythology? I personally don't classify them as such, nor would I include fables or folk tales.

But this one should qualify:

The book of the people, Popol Vuh : the national book of the ancient Quiche Maya. Illus. Everett Gee Jackson. Los Angeles : Printed for the members of the Limited Editions Club at the Plantin Press, 1954. 1500 copies. Translated into Spanish from the Mayan codex by Adrián Recinos and from the Spanish into English by Delia Goetz and Sylvanus Groswold Morely.

The Popol Vuh is a foundational sacred narrative of the Kʼicheʼ people from long before the Spanish conquest of the Maya. It includes the Mayan creation myth, the exploits of the Hero Twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué,4 and a chronicle of the Kʼicheʼ/Quiché people.

Then there is the LEC's American Indian Legends, 1968, illus. Everett Gee Jackson, printed by Ward Ritchie.

>34 Glacierman: What makes the American Indian Legends any more valid than the Arthurian Legends?

A Babylonian Anthology by Bird & Bull Press, 1966. Printed with unspecified typeface on unspecified paper, probably mouldmade. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in blue quarter-leather with oatmeal linen boards. Edition of 200 copies. Includes the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Descent of Ishtar, and the Lament of the Righteous Sufferer.

>35 ChestnutPress: Mythology. Rather like the First Nations myths collected by Frank Bird Linderman, such as Indian Why Stories, which explain how things came to be (origins) and often make reference to various gods/spirits, (Coyote, Raven, the Creator, etc.) as the effecting force.

The Arthurian tales are Medieval legendary fictions very loosely based on history. Legends are not mythology. "A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time to keep them fresh and vital" (definition ex Wikipedia); "... a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person." (Cambridge Dictionary).

The Irish Ulster Cycle, etc., are legends, not mythology.

We've already agreed above to exclude folk tales/folklore from the list.

To be completely honest, I listed the LEC "Indian Legends" w/o knowing what is included, although I assumed that it is a compendium of First Nations myths that have been mis-characterized as legends. I may be mistaken in that assumption.

OED definition

myth /mɪθ /
▸ noun
1 a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events:

>37 Glacierman: This makes fair sense, although I would still argue that there are no sharply defined boundaries as to when a legend is not a myth (and vice versa). I struggle, to be honest, as it seems to me that the basis of both myth and legend is just semi-historical-based fiction storytelling. I think there are plenty of blurred lines where one can be argued as the other and I guess defining exactly what makes something one or the other is a but like trying to define what constitutes fine press (a bit difficult)! 😁 In the grander scheme of things I'm not that fussed as I'm not a big myths and legends fan anyway. I just offered up options that I felt fit into the myth category, leaving it up to the curator of this particular thread to decide if they are included or not.

>39 ChestnutPress: And some good options they are! I'm not one to get all pedantic on something like this, so yeah, let's move on and post more suggestions. And yes, just exactly what IS a fine press??? 😉

Hope you all had a nice Christmas!

>38 wcarter: >39 ChestnutPress: >40 Glacierman:
Indeed, the boundaries are difficult to draw and I haven't drawn a conclusion yet.
Thank you for the suggestions in any case! There are some beauties among them I wasn't aware of.

>4 dlphcoracl: I am looking forward!

Another rather rare book is perhaps this one:
Aratus, Phenomena, King Library Press, 1975

84 pp. Translated by John Lamb. Printed in black & red. Illustrated from woodcuts in Erhard Ratdolt's 1482 Poetica Astronomica. 26x20.2 cm, decorative boards, paper spine label, blind-stamped jacket.

I'll post the information of the colophon once I can access the book. I didn't have the chance to move it to my library yet.

The book uses the same source for its woodcuts that can be found in
Gaius Hyginus, The Poeticon Astronomicon, The Allen Press, 1985
reviewed here: https://booksandvines.com/2012/06/10/the-poeticon-astronomicon-by-gaius-hyginus-...

Colophon: This book is one of an edition limited to 140 copies. The text typeface is Monotype Garamond Bold, set by Mackenzie-Harris, and re-set by hand ; the display type is Solemnis, set by hand, The all-rag paper was handmade at the Barcham Green Mill, England, and printed damp on an 1882 Albion handpress. The woodcuts, although slightly enlarged, appear exactly as printed by Ratdolt in 1482, without retouching.
The translation from the Latin is by Mark Livingston, B.A. Williams College, assisted by D.Neel Smith, Ph.D. cand. (classics), University of California, Berkeley. The translation is based on Radolt's edition, corrected against Bernhard Bunte's variorum edition (Leipzig, 1975). The closing commendatory verses in the Venetian text are omitted.
Text and illustrations produced with the kind cooperation of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, and The Huntington Library, San Marino.
Designed, hand-printed, and bound by Lewis & Dorothy Allen.

What are your opinions about Ovid, Metamorphoses, The Limited Editions Club, 1958, especially the paper? Is the book worth a comparably expensive rebind or do you have alternative suggestions?

>43 SebRinelli: my opinion is that it is an almost flawless book, for what it is trying to be.

The paper has nice weight but is smoother than is fashionable according to today's fine printing taste.

The illustrations might be printed on a different paper stock. I forget off hand but I can check my copy when I get home if you are curious. (There is an impression "framing" the pictures.)

I would personally not rebind it. The quarter cloth spine has a refinement and silkiness that is unique in my collection, despite the simplicity. The printed paper over boards is hand-printed Italian paper. The binding style is clearly part of the book design, which is highly intentional (despite not being, in a technical sense, the work of a master binder). I forget, for example, whether it was sewn onto tapes or whether the signatures were hand sewn (I suspect not). I would not rebind it unless one found a copy with damaged binding and fine text block. Then it would be worth rebinding to save it. In my opinion.

Have you seen the Erni illustrations in person? They have an almost frigid modern gallery feel. Sort of like the work of Alexander Calder. I could imagine them not working for some readers, and the overall evaluation would probably rise or fall based on that. Digital images on the web do not really capture the effect; one has to see it in person.

It is also perhaps worth noting that this was chosen as one of the Grolier Club's A Century for the Century, which is a curation of the 100 most important books published (if I recall correctly) during the 20th century, from the perspective of the book arts. Perhaps limited to publications in English? (I forget.) In any case, here is the page discussing the LEC's Ovid:

Thank you >44 abysswalker: for your expert review und sharing the snippet of A Century for the Century!

I thought about rebinding a damaged copy, because I don‘t think that the design is very successful and the binding itself seems to be poorly executed as one can see a lot of copies where the text block has sagged. I wish I could see a copy in person beforehand, but LECs are scarce in Germany. Most copies in my library had to cross the ocean.

Decisions, decisions…

>45 SebRinelli: Somewhat unrelated, but being in Germany myself, can you recommend any particular binder you've had experience with? I have a couple things I'd like bound/rebound but have never had it done before. Also curious about the price range :)

>46 thfrgi:
https://www.instagram.com/rogergreenbookbinding/
Roger Green in Wuppertal is an experienced bookbinder and he produces by far the best slipcases and solanders I have seen so far.
Prices really depend on the materials and intricacy of the binding. He doesn‘t have many clichés for stamping but is pretty strong in doing geometrical designs.

I wanted to check out Hans-Peter Geiseler in Berlin who has done the binding for this beautiful book. I am not sure whether he is still in business though.
https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/a7/75/a775001bd5b552f637652657751426...
https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/87/81/87812fd9c3d17ac637656657751426...

>46 thfrgi: I don't know whether you would consider a binder outside of Germany, but Boekbinderij Phoenix in the Netherlands are responsible for several of the finest bindings on my shelves. The finish and attention to detail are always impeccable.

https://boekbinderij-phoenix.business.site/

Some examples I own:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfvj8ULLgZi/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfOIY_-Lugx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTB45OFsOB5/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx1d0XkBwD6/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3eEc-oBc5V/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

As far as German binders go, apart from Roger Green (whose work looks amazing and is something I'd really like to examine in person), I can think of only one other: Olaf Rie. A friend of mine used him for bindings of some special edition copies of a couple of his BABEL Verlag publications many years ago. May be worth looking into:
https://olaf-nie.de/

Thank you both for the recommendations! These are all gorgeous bindings. I hope I can figure out something within my modest budget, as most of these seem like they'd be worth more than any books I have (and justifiably so).

I can honestly say that the the LEC Age of Fable is not only magnificent, but ridiculously underpriced! If it came out today people would pay $400+ for it and say what a bargain it is!

>50 astropi: I'll say, my NF copy with the newsletter and announcement cost me $26 back in 2014.

>51 kdweber: I'm sure it's gone up since then, but I'm also sure it's still way underpriced! Honestly, if you paid $100-150 I think it's 100% worth it. One of the best and more interesting titles from the LEC.

>52 astropi: How about ± $40??

>53 Glacierman: That's what I'm saying, criminally underpriced but awesome for us :)

For those who read German or ancient Greek:
Homerische Hymnen, Manesse Drucke, 1983
Kolophon: Der Text wurde nach den Angaben von Martino Mardersteig in der 12 Punkt Monotype Baskerville und Greek Upright von der Stamperia Valdonega in Verona gesetzt und auf Spezial Magnani Bütten gedruckt. Die Auflage beträgt 250 nummerierte Exemplare mit einer signierten Radierung von Helmut Ackermann.

The book contains all hymns plus a few notable alternative translations. The Magnani paper certainly doesn’t have the luxurious feel of the Magnani used in LEC books of the Shiff era but is still quality paper. The frontis etching shows Bacchus using a line drawing style.
The printing is done nicely and the typographic choices are restrained.

A great reading copy for which I paid 63€ in near fine condition.

Another I wanted to draw attention to has been introduced to this board a while ago by artisanal.
Publius Ovidius Naso, Les Metamorphoses d‘Ovide, Aux dépens d‘un groupe de bibliophiles amis de l‘artiste, 1953
This French translation of a selection of Ovid‘s Metamorphoses has been beautifully printed on handmade Richard de Bas paper and features fantastic etchings by André Collot.
Pictures can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/319747
It is certainly more than a reading copy!

Aeschylus, The Oresteian Trilogy, The Allen Press, 1982

Colophon: This book is one of an limited edition to hundred forty copies. The type-faces are menheart unciala for the text, and solemnis for the personæ of the drama; both set by hand.
For the display lines of title and author, used alternately on text pages: solemnis, libra, and greek-lettered calligraphy by Mark Livingston.
The paper is all-rag, handmade especially for the Allen Press by the Richard de Bas mill in France, established 1326, and carries the watermark of this press. The paper was printed damp on an Albion handpress made 1882 in Scotland. The binding cloth, made in France, was imported for this edition.

Designed, printed and bound by
Lewis and Dorothy Allen,
Greenbrae, California - mcmlxxxii

The book has been reviewed here:
https://booksandvines.com/2012/04/13/the-oresteian-trilogy-by-aeschylus-the-alle...

The Allens had an inclination for unciala, unfortunately so, I’d say. Printing and paper are top-notch, the design choices not to my taste though. Still, for many it will be the most beautiful Oresteia available.

Besides the already mentioned editions, the Allens have published the following titles with myth-related contents. As I don’t own any copies, I have no additional details.

Sophocles, Antigone, The Allen Press, 1978
Euripides, The Bacchae, The Allen Press, 1972

Perhaps somebody else is happy to furnish the missing details.

Continuing the Greek texts...

The Agamemnon of Aeschylus
Aeschylus, translated by Raymond Postgate
Rampant Lions Press, 1969

Precis: The Greek text with a lively English translation and notes. Set in Baskerville and Porson Greek and printed on mould-made paper. Bound in full cloth, with coloured endpapers and an acetate wrapper.

This is listed as still available at the laughably bargain price of £20. Is one of the earliest items acquired in my fine press collection.

>56 SebRinelli: I'm in the group that think the uncial font is absolutely the way to go for The Oresteia and that the Allen Press edition is indeed THE edition to get :)

Sh'a A-la-k'o Mana: Ritual of Creation (Hopi)
Essay and poem by Fred. H. Cushing
Grabhorn Press, 1957

I don't have a personal copy to reference, so I can't say more about the contents, but it sounds like it may qualify. Grabhorn is certainly fine press.

The Corn Maidens Dance and its Greek Analogies
subtitle: Pai Ya Tu Ma: God of all Dance and His Customs of the Flute, Zuni Pueblo, 1932
Grabhorn Press, 1955

Precis: Beautifully printed study in comparative religion, contasting the Zuni corn ritual with various ancient Greek fertility rites. Includes selections from the writings of Frank Hamilton Cushing and other commentators on Native American religion.

>60 Shadekeep: Thank you for highlighting this, it looks very interesting indeed. Would love a peek inside if anyone here has a copy!
A shame it's only available from US booksellers...

Hésiode, Pandora, Les Pharmaciens Bibliophiles, 2006

The myth of Pandora explains how evil and sorrows but also hope came into this world.

This edition offers the original Greek text taken from Hesiod's Works and Days, a French translation, and a retelling of the myth plus 17 beautiful illustrations by Marianne Clouzot. The text and illustrations were printed in an edition of 180 copies by Atelier Mérat-Auger on BFK Rives, a nice paper that reminds me of the Magnani Pescia often used by Sidney Shiff in the later LEC publications.
The pages are not sewn and housed in a black solander/clamshell box.

Bhagavad Gita: The Song Celestial
The Sanskrit text translated into English Verse by Sir Edwin Arnold
The Limited Editions Club, 1964

Limited to 1500 copies. Original Sanskrit characters and English text on facing pages. Illustrated with fifteen tipped-in plates from water colours by Y.G. Srimati. Made by the Commercial Printing Press, Ltd. in Bombay, India under the supervision of S. Ramu, who designed the format and selected Egmont types for the English text. The paper is a cream-white vellum-finish from the Curtis Paper Company, Newark, Delaware. The boards are covered with Indian silk hand-woven in a lotus and mango pattern, and each copy is protected by a cloth covered solander case.

An extensive review can be found on Books and Vines.

Perhaps not the LEC's finest hour, but there's quite a dearth of fine press Hindu mythology.

The book of the dead : a collection of spells
Edited and Translated by Raymond O. Faulkner from Papyri in the British Museum
New York : Limited Editions Club, 1972. 2 vols.

Egyptian mythology in the form of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife and written by many priests over a period of about 1,000 years.

>63 SebRinelli: I like the look of this volume a lot!

Virgil (William Morris, tr), The Aeneids of Virgil, Longmans, Green & Co, 1901

and

Homer (William Morris, tr), The Odyssey of Homer, Longmans, Green & Co, 1901

Printed in red and black in Morris's Golden type. No illustrations. Sadly, I don’t have any further information since at least my copies don‘t have a colophon. They were rebound Sangorski & Sutcliffe and Bayntun respectively.

>67 SebRinelli: Those Longmans editions of Morris's work are really handsome, especially the quartos beautifully printed at the Chiswick Press. I have a couple myself, which I should get rebound at some point.

>68 ChestnutPress: Yes, I totally agree though I prefer illustrated books. Do your copies have a colophon?

I've added pictures to the previous post >67 SebRinelli:

The only colophon those had is that final note on the last pages stating them being printed in Golden type by Chiswick Press and when they were printed. The bindings of yours are exquisite!