{"product_id":"the-human-age-childermass-monstre-gai-malign-fiesta-wyndham-lewis","title":"The Human Age (Childermass; Monstre Gai \u0026 Malign Fiesta), Wyndham Lewis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Human Age (Two Volumes: Childermass; Monstre Gai \u0026amp; Malign Fiesta), Wyndham Lewis — Mixed First Editions \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication\u003c\/strong\u003e: London, Methuen \u0026amp; Co. Ltd., 1955-1956 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormatting\u003c\/strong\u003e: 2 vols., 8vo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Report\u003c\/b\u003e Very Good. The publisher's cloth boards (light blue with a maroon spine block for Volume One, and grey with a black spine block for Volume Two) remain exceptionally bright, sharp-cornered, and tight. The gilt lettering to the spines is vibrant and unoxidised, while the striking Ayrton line devices stamped to the front boards are pristine and unrubbed. The bindings are entirely firm with no leaning. The unclipped dust jackets (priced 25s. and 30s. net, respectively) are visually arresting and highly presentable, exhibiting only minor rubbing to the extremities and slight, uniform age-toning to the spine panels. However, both the jackets and the inner board edges suffer from noticeable tape-ghosting and browning to the flaps; the remnant offset of a previously removed cellophane protector. Despite this historical blemish, the complete set presents handsomely and solidly on the shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatalogue Note\u003c\/b\u003e This two-volume set comprises the complete trilogy of \u003ci\u003eThe Human Age\u003c\/i\u003e as published by Methuen in the mid-1950s. Following the abandonment of the project by his original publisher, Chatto \u0026amp; Windus, Wyndham Lewis was sponsored by the BBC to finish his visionary epic over two decades later. The second volume, containing \u003ci\u003eMonstre Gai\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMalign Fiesta\u003c\/i\u003e, is a true first edition published in 1955. The first volume, \u003ci\u003eChildermass\u003c\/i\u003e, was originally published in 1928 but is presented here in the 1956 Methuen edition; the first edition thus, uniformly reissued by the publisher to accompany the new sequels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth volumes are profoundly enhanced by the brooding, avant-garde illustrations and striking dust jacket artwork of British artist Michael Ayrton, whose aesthetic brilliantly mirrors Lewis's purgatorial vision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinding a matched, two-volume Methuen set retaining both original Ayrton dust jackets is uncommonly difficult on the open market, as they are most frequently encountered as disparate, individual volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWyndham Lewis’s \u003ci\u003eThe Human Age\u003c\/i\u003e is a radical, visionary, and fiercely experimental theological epic, frequently heralded as the modernist counterpart to Dante’s \u003ci\u003eDivine Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e. The saga begins in \u003ci\u003eChildermass\u003c\/i\u003e with the posthumous journey of two Englishmen, Pullman and Satterthwaite, who navigate a bizarre, purgatorial wasteland while awaiting entrance to the Magnetic City. In the subsequent books, \u003ci\u003eMonstre Gai\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMalign Fiesta\u003c\/i\u003e, their surreal odyssey takes them into a terrifying, authoritarian underworld ruled by the demonic Bailiff, plunging them straight into the heart of Hell. Dazzling, satirical, and deeply unsettling, Lewis’s masterpiece stands as one of the most ambitious and uncompromising achievements in twentieth-century literature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54476006752595,"sku":"4880","price":425.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260727_153449_45a3654a-8c44-4f48-9081-38f025176b33.jpg?v=1785765095","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/the-human-age-childermass-monstre-gai-malign-fiesta-wyndham-lewis","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}