CLARKE, Graham (b.1941, illustrator). Balyn and Balan, Ebenezer Press, [1969], folio, coloured linocut text and plates by Graham Clarke printed on 16 folded sheets, each plate initialled by the artist, original yew boards. ONE OF 25 ARTIST'S PROOF COPIES.

CLARKE, Graham (b.1941, illustrator).  Balyn and Balan. Boughton Moncheslea, Kent: Ebenezer Press, [1969]. Folio (510 x 355mm). Coloured linocut title, text and plates by Graham Clarke, printed on 16 folded sheets, each plate initialled in pencil by the artist, the title further inscribed "(Proof)", unbound as issued (some mainly marginal spotting, chiefly to the versos). Original tan morocco-backed English yew boards by Geo. Coulter Limited, spine lettered in gilt, lined with purple velvet, original purple cloth chemise (spine rubbed, chemise a little moth-eaten). LIMITED TO 125 COPIES, THIS ONE OF 25 "ARTIST'S PROOFS". "Balyn and Balan is one of the lesser known Arthurian legends. This version is of necessity very much shortened, being reduced to a series of simple consecutive paragraphs. The main source for the text has been found in 'King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table' by Robert Lancelyn Green to whom the artist is very much indebted. The eighteen pages of text and the title page are cut by hand on blocks obtained from the wood of a single apple tree and the twenty three illustrations are cut from wood and lino. These are combined to form sixteen folded sheets which are printed on Mellotex High White Cartridge using a Cogger (1820) printing press. This machine is thought to be the only one of its kind still in operation and, together with the artist's print workshop, forms the Ebenezer Press" (from the colophon, printed on a separate sheet).