The Greek Myths — The Folio Society | Robert Graves | 2002 | 2 Volume Set | Very Good

Robert Graves spent a lifetime insisting that the Greek myths were not decoration. They were evidence — of older religions, displaced goddesses, and rituals half-remembered by the poets who wrote them down.

First published in 1955 and revised in 1960, The Greek Myths is the book that sent generations of readers back to the sources. Graves gathers the myths in full, cross-references the variants that ancient authors disagreed about, and then supplies his own commentary — bold, argumentative and frequently disputed by classicists ever since. You do not have to accept his conclusions to find the book indispensable. It remains the most complete single gathering of the myths in English, and the commentary is where the pleasure lies: Graves arguing with Homer, with Apollodorus, and with anyone who thinks a myth is only a story.

Kenneth McLeish provides the introduction to this edition, setting Graves's method in context for readers coming to him fresh. Grahame Baker's illustrations draw directly on the visual language of Attic vase painting — black figures against terracotta grounds — and Denys Baker drew the maps. The text follows Graves's revised 1960 edition, with his source notes omitted.

Two volumes, 700 pages in all, quarter-bound in brown buckram with paper sides printed with a design by Grahame Baker, gilt lettering and Greek-key rules to the spines, and illustrated map endpapers. Set in Ehrhardt with Lithos display, printed on Caxton Wove by Grafos of Barcelona. Both volumes house in the original terracotta slipcase with its gilt Greek-key border. First Folio Society edition 1996; this is the thirteenth printing of 2002, the two-volume format.

Condition is Very Good. Both volumes carry a gift inscription in ink to the front free endpaper, dated 25 December 2004, from a mother to her daughter — neat, unobtrusive and in the same hand across both volumes, which is how we know the set has stayed together since the Christmas morning it was given. Beyond that the text is entirely unmarked. Pages are clean and bright, bindings are firm and square, the gilt is unrubbed and the printed sides are fresh. The slipcase is sound and holds both volumes properly, with only light handling wear.

Folio issued this set many times over a decade, so it is not a scarce book — we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. What is less common is finding both volumes together with the original slipcase intact, since slipcases are what get thrown away first and single volumes turn up orphaned all the time. Complete, matched, and with a small piece of its own history written into the front of each volume, this is a set to read from rather than to keep sealed away.

Extra photographs available on request. Just get in touch and we will be happy to help.

Wrapped in good heavy paper — we don't skimp on that — and packed into a sturdy box so nothing shifts on the way to you, wherever in the world that happens to be. Kat packs and checks every parcel herself, and she is not easily pleased. The unwrapping ought to be half the pleasure.