RAVEN PRESS. BRAY, H.W. ~ The Book of Tobit from The Apocrypha, according to The Authorised Version.
5 full page wood engravings printed in black, grey and flesh colour by Horace Walter Bray plus title page vignette and hand coloured head-piece and numerous elaborate hand coloured initials by Bray. One of 275 copies, this no.48. 8vo., original quarter vellum, decorated with a gilt raven and lettered in gilt, marbled paper boards, in the original marbled paper covered slipcase. Couple of small marks to the spine, otherwise very good.
The Book of Tobit, named after its hero Tobias, combines Jewish piety and morality with oriental folklore in a fascinating story.
Tobit, a devout and wealthy Israelite living among the captives deported to Nineveh from Israel in 721 B.C., suffers many reverses and is finally blinded. He begs the Lord to let him die but recalling the large sum he had formerly deposited in far-off Media, he sends his son Tobiah there to bring back the money. In Media, at this same time, a young woman, Sarah, also prays for death, because she has lost seven husbands, each killed in turn on his wedding night by the demon Asmodeus. God hears the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, and sends the angel Raphael in disguise to aid them both.
Raphael makes the trip to Media with Tobiah. When Tobiah is attacked by a large fish as he bathes, Raphael orders him to seize it and to remove its gall, heart, and liver because they make "useful medicines." Later, at Raphael's urging, Tobiah marries Sarah, and uses the the fish's heart and liver to drive Asmodeus from the bridal chamber. Returning to Nineveh with his wife and his father's money, Tobiah rubs the fish's gall into his father's eyes and cures them. Finally, Raphael reveals his true identity and returns to heaven. Tobit then utters his beautiful hymn of praise. Before dying, Tobit tells his son to leave Nineveh because God will destroy that wicked city. After Tobiah buries his father and mother, he and his family depart for Media, where he later learns that the destruction of Nineveh has taken place.
Produced after their time at the Gregynog Press, this is a fine example of the attractive later work of Maynard & Bray.