Faithful John

by the Brothers Grimm
translated by Lucy Crane

images by Harry Brockway

1998
34pp
270 x 175mm (10.6 x 6.8in)

£85


220 copies
signed by the artist

26 special copies, lettered A-Z, which include a portfolio containing signed proofs of each of the wood engravings, printed by the artist on Japanese paper. £250.

 Within the covers of Grimm's Household Tales lurk stories of peculiar power and perennial attraction. Despite the fact that many pantomime plots have been drawn from this source, children's stories most of them simply are not -- rather they offer material for endless reinterpretation and a feeling that hidden truths are there to be disinterred by the wise. Faithful John is one of the best, most complicatedly wrought and, more than most, liberally filled with apparent parables. The three ravens who haunt the attempts of the young prince to woo the beautiful princess, the faithful servant whose selfless acts are misinterpreted to the point of his being executed, whereupon his lifeless body turns to stone and can only be redeemed by child sacrifice . . . which in turn is reversed by the power of faith. . . powerful and fascinating stuff. Quite the stuff, too, to draw a set of incredibly powerful images from the engraving tools of Harry Brockway. They are made all the more powerful because of the demands made by the unusual shape of all except the frontispiece - 198x34mm.
Centaur type, computer generated and printed from polymer blocks. Printed on a special making (175gsm) of Zerkall mould-made paper on a FAG Control 900 press.
Frontispiece and 15 wood engravings printed from the wood. Image, derived from a wood engraving, is repeated on alternate openings, printed in blue.
Maroon cloth spine with gilt spine titling. Bright blue paper sides overprinted in gold to produce images derived from the frontispiece. Slipcase covered in maroon cloth with recessed black on white image.