The Seafarer

1988

PR1772.A2 1988 [Special Collections Oversize]

Old Stile Press : Llandogo

The Anglo Saxon poem, The Seafarer, exists only in one manuscript, Exeter Cathedral Library ms. 3501, more commonly known as the Exeter Book. For a manuscript written between 970 and 990, the codex is in relatively good condition, in spite of the fact that it is missing a few leaves, has been used as a cutting board and a tea coaster, and has suffered some destructive burns on the last folio. Kevin Crossley-Holland, an avid fan of the Anglo-Saxon period, has translated this Old English elegy and employed the Danish abstract artist Inger Lawrance to create from woodcuts her image-works. It was hand-set using Albertus types by Nicolas McDowall, owner-operator of The Old Stile Press. This is no. 108 of 240, and is signed by the artist and the translator.