The descent of Ishtar / by Diana White.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

White, Diana (Translator), translator, illustrator.

Pissarro, Lucien, 1863-1944, designer, printer, type designer.

Pissarro, Esther, engraver, printer.

Eragny Press, publisher, printer.

John Lane Company, publisher.

Moulin d'Arches, papermaker.

Jean-François Vilain and Roger S. Wieck Collection of Private Presses, Ephemera, & Related References (University of Pennsylvania)

Standardized Title:

Ishtar's descent to the nether world. English

Language:

English

Undetermined

Subjects (All):

Ishtar (Assyro-Babylonian deity).

Ishtar.

Mythology, Assyro-Babylonian.

Genre:

Private press books (Printing)

Printers' devices (Printing)

Printing in multiple colors (Printing)

Limitation statements (Publishing)

Deckled edges (Paper)

Typefaces (Type evidence) -- Brook.

Case bindings (Binding)

Untrimmed edges (Binding)

Illustrated works.

Myths and legends.

Translations.

Penn Provenance:

Vilain, Jean-François, 1942- (donor) (Vilain-Wieck Collection copy)

Wieck, Roger S. (donor) (Vilain-Wieck Collection copy)

Physical Description:

30, [2] pages : illustrations ; 19 cm

Manufacture:

[Hammersmith, London] : The book has been printed by [Lucien and Esther Pissarro] at their Eragny Press, The Brook, Hammersmith, Finished in December 1903.

Place of Publication:

[London] : Sold by the Eragny Press, London ; [New York] : and John Lane, New York, [1903]

Summary:

"The legend of the Descent of Ishtar forms part of the twelve tablets of the famous 'Deluge Series' found (in fragments) in the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. The Seventh Tablet relates the journey of Ishtar, Goddess of Love and Life, to the Under World in search of her husband, Tammuz; her detention there by Allat, queen of the Dead; and the subsequent intervention of the Great Gods to obtain her release, which is unwillingly conceded. The closing lines of the Tablet are unhappily so badly mutilated that their sense is obscure, but it seems probable that the Goddess was obliged to return to the Upper World without fulfilling her quest ... Cuneiform being a closed book to me, I wish to express my entire indebtedness for the present version of the legend to its various translators: Mr. George Smith, Professor Sayce, Professor Schrader, and MM. Joachim Ménant, Julius Oppert, and François Lenormant."--Diana White, "The descent of Ishtar," The New review 16.95 (April 1897), page 405.

Notes:

"The frontispiece has been designed by Diana White & engraved on the wood by Esther Pissarro. The double border and initial letters were designed by Lucien Pissarro and engraved by Esther Pissaro. The book has been printed by them at their Eragny Press, the Brook, Hammersmith. Finished in December, 1903. Sold by the Eragny Press, London, and John Lane, New York."--Page [31].

"This edition is strictly limited to 226 copies, of which 200 are for sale."--Page [32].

"Paper and dimensions: Arches. Leaf: 190 x 100 mm. Type: Brook"--Genz.

"[O]ne black and white wood engraved illustration; two borders and one ornament in green; five initials in red; pressmark in black and white ... Pressmark III, 76 mm. diameter (Fern 112 (SB 152))."--Genz.

"Binding: Quarter Michallet blue paper with printed paper label: (in red) (type orn: leaf) THE DE- | SCENT OF | ISHTAR. | BY DIANA | WHITE. Green paper boards with a repeat pattern of 'daisy' (designed by Diana White) printed in green ink."--Genz. Deckled edges, untrimmed.

Local Notes:

Kislak Center Vilain-Wieck Collection of Private Presses copy presented to the Penn Libraries in 2013 by Jean-François Vilain and Roger Wieck.

Vilain-Wieck Collection copy has guard tissue laid in after frontispiece.

Cited in:

Genz, M.D. History of the Eragny Press, 1894-1914, EP19

OCLC:

3854404