Poems by Majnun Laila : A Seventh Century Arab Poet. With prospectus and rejected leaf

Hitchen Herts, England: The Red Gull Press. Near Fine with no dust jacket. 1985. Special Limited Edition. Softcover. Consistent with other examples, the wraps of the specially bound book are shallowly wrinkled front and back where the paper frames and labels have contracted, likely when drying.; These verses are excerpted from the classic "Laila and Majnun" story of mystical, devotional love that approaches madness. Briefly, an Arab chief's boy Qais (Majnun) meets a girl, Laila. They fall deeply in love, but Laila's parents forbid her to have a relationship with Qais. Separated, the boy becomes erratic and lost in his poetic thoughts and longing. He becomes known to others as Majnum or madman as he cannot separate longing from reality. Laila dies from loneliness and subsequently Qais does. The story is believed to have originated in early Muslim culture. Written, rewritten, and translated chiefly in Brajbhasha, Dakani, Persian, "literary" Persian, and Urdu, translations spanned many other languages, often using different dialects to appeal to readers in different social strata. Successive translations can be compared to track the development of vernacular literary cultures in South Asia and Persia in particular. Some of this book's translated stanzas are in a rhyming half-line style that appeared in tenth century Persian poetry. Example: "Only people in love are alive,/The lonely are good as dead./If I wished to blame her she'd say,/I'm always on time when we meet./You must come and knock on our door,/We wait more keenly than you hasten." Other verses are of mixed style. Example: "My love clung to her soul/Before thought and later/Our love was centered in drops.//Our love cried in the cradle,/It fused our lives and grew./When we die, it won't die.//It will survive to light/The darkness of our grave" Despite the subtitle of this book, Majnun (Qais) is a fictional character and not a poet. In the story, Majnun's thoughts are poetry. This book's excerpts were translated by George (Brian Hamilton) Wightman, a notable British poet, and Abdullah al-Udhari, a translator and lecturer in Arabic. The men edited a bilingual Arab-English literary magazine and jointly translated other classic Arab poetry. There is no indication of the story's version they used for this book's translation. In 1981 The Red Gull Press, Hertz, England, planned the publication of this book and made test printings. It was determined that no paper could be found that would suitably compliment the poetry. By chance, a collaboration with Twinrocker Handmade Paper, Brookston, Indiana, USA, led to the use of Abaca fiber text and cover paper handmade by Twinrocker's co-founder Kathryn Clark. From a limited edition of 105 total, this is copy 29 of 75 on this handmade, fibrous paper that has random inclusions and spots. This paper incorporates a hand-applied, colored, pulp wash at the head of the wraps and leaves. This colored wash is easily mistaken for dampstain, but is purposeful and important to the design. Fore and tail edges of the block are untrimmed. Sewn into gray, French flapped, rough, handmade paper wraps over the self-wraps of the book. Wraps have a laid-down, rough paper frame front and back, the front frame has a paper title label laid down on top of it and the rear frame is has a laid-down paper blank label. Sewn binding. Hand set in Univers type and printed with a Lewis Roberts ink, at Twinrocker, by Michael Gullick of The Red Gull Press. OCLC lists 4 copies, but none indicate if they are regular or decorated paper copies. The only institutional copy we find of the special paper version is at University of Wisconsin Libraries. Like this copy 29, its wraps are shallowly wrinkled front and back where the paper frames and labels have contracted, likely when drying. Offered with the 8 pp. prospectus containing an extensive history of the conception, paper, and printing of the book. One of 125 copies containing a tipped in 'reject' leaf from the specially bound book. Sewn into gray, French flapped, handmade paper wraps over the self-wraps of the book. Clean and Fine condition. The specially bound book is an exceptional example of cohesive design and classic Arab verse, skillfully rendered by a fine press. Clean and Near Fine condition. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 24 pages .