| Author | William Morris |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Walter Crane |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan/Kelmscott Press |
Publication date | 1890/1891 |
| Media type | Print [1] (first published in the English Illustrated Magazine , issued as a book by the Kelmscott Press). |
The Story of the Glittering Plain (full title: The Story of the Glittering Plain which has been also called the Land of Living Men or the Acre of the Undying) is an 1891 fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. [2] It is also important for its exploration of the socialist themes that interested Morris.
His earlier fantasies The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains were to some degree historical novels. Like these The Story of the Glittering Plain is set in a world similar to the distant past of northern Europe. Morris would go on to develop the new genre established in this work in such later fantasies as Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair , The Wood Beyond the World , The Well at the World's End , and The Water of the Wondrous Isles . [3]
The book concerns the quest of Hallblithe of the House of the Raven to rescue his fiancée the Hostage, who has been kidnapped by pirates, which ultimately takes him to the utopian Land of the Glittering Plain, also known as the Acre of the Undying or the Land of the Living Men, whose inhabitants are supposedly immortal.
First printed in The English Illustrated Magazine , Vol. VII, 1890, [4] the story was printed in book form the following year by the Kelmscott Press, Morris's own newly founded private press.
The first Kelmscott edition was not illustrated, but used decorated capitals and Morris's "Golden" typeface (after Nicolas Jenson). A second edition appeared in 1894. [1] Morris increased the size of the book from small to large quarto, and changed the typeface to "Troy" (a more Gothic design). Walter Crane supplied illustrations on a profit-sharing basis: these were designed as woodcuts in accordance with Morris's commitment to techniques typical of 15th and 16th-century European book production. Although Crane had trained as a wood engraver, it was agreed that the illustrations could be "cut on wood" by someone else. [5]
The number of copies printed by the Kelmscott Press was small. According to the British Library, which has several copies, the 1894 edition was a "limited ed. of 250 paper copies (priced 5 gns) and 7 vellum copies (£20)". [1]
Although the Kelmscott Press continued in existence until 1898, The Story of the Glittering Plain was, in 1896, transferred to Longmans, Green and Co., a large-scale publisher. It was republished (as The Glittering Plain) by the Newcastle Publishing Company as the first volume of the Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library in September, 1973.
The copyright for this story has expired in the United States, and thus now resides in the public domain there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg (transcribed from the 1913 Longmans, Green and Co. edition).
Clark Ashton Smith was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne. As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics alongside Joaquin Miller, Sterling, and Nora May French and remembered as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn". Smith's work was praised by his contemporaries. H. P. Lovecraft stated that "in sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled", and Ray Bradbury said that Smith "filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures".
William Morris was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain.
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Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fantasy literature may be directed at both children and adults.
The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published fifty-three books in sixty-six volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many books were illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones. Kelmscott Press books sought to replicate the style of 15th-century printing and were part of the Gothic revival movement. Kelmscott Press started the contemporary fine press movement, which focuses on the craft and design of bookmaking, often using hand presses. While their most famous books are richly decorated, most Kelmscott Press books did not have elaborate decoration, but were published simply.
Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning. The modern genre is distinguished from tales and folklore which contain fantastic elements, first by the acknowledged fictitious nature of the work, and second by the naming of an author. Works in which the marvels were not necessarily believed, or only half-believed, such as the European romances of chivalry and the tales of the Arabian Nights, slowly evolved into works with such traits. Authors like George MacDonald created the first explicitly fantastic works.
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A Tale of the House of the Wolfings and All the Kindreds of the Mark is a fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. It was first published in hardcover by Reeves and Turner in 1889.
Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair is a fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. It was first published in hardcover by Morris' Kelmscott Press in 1895. Its importance in the history of fantasy literature was recognized by its republication by the Newcastle Publishing Company as the twelfth volume of the celebrated Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library in April, 1977.
Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in August 1976. The first German edition was issued by Pabel in November 1978.
The Roots of the Mountains: Wherein is Told Somewhat of the Lives of the Men of Burgdale, Their Friends, Their Neighbors, Their Foemen, and Their Fellows in Arms is a fantasy romance novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with an element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. It was first published in hardcover by Reeves and Turner in 1889. Its importance in the history of fantasy literature was recognized by its republication by the Newcastle Publishing Company as the nineteenth volume of the Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library in April, 1979.
The Story of the Glittering Plain public domain audiobook at LibriVox