Llandogo, Near Monmouth Old Stile Press 1997

Limited edition no 149 of 225 copies. Signed by Martin Pitts. Unpaginated. Poem by Noel 9 1834-1894 interpreted through images by Pitts. Martin Pitts' name has been associated with The Old Stile Press since the very beginning. He made linocuts for the first book made by the Press and then, a succession of further projects with his images. Roden Noel lived from 1834 to 1894. In this poem he mixes elements of the story of Salmacis & Hermaphroditus from Ovid's Metamorphoses with memories of moods, settings and atmospheres from his Irish childhood, combining, as John Addington Symonds wrote, "full sensuous feeling for the material world with an ever-present sense of the spirit informing it and bringing all its products into vital harmony." Pitts' images here are printed in dark honey-coloured ink highlighted with white ink on a light honey coloured Ingres paper giving the whole book construction an ephemeral feel. Printed cloth covered flimsy boards with gilt lettered spine, blue end papers and ribbon ties. From the collection of Bruce Wannell with his bookplate which was specially made by Mark Hearld in York. Very good copy.