Dragons and Dragon Lore (Facsimile Issue of Payson & Clarke First Edition)

Detroit - New York : Singing Tree Press - Payson & Clarke , 1968. 1968 at title page and Library of Congress number beginning with 68. A reissue of the rare original first edition of 1928 in complete facsimile form. Black full cloth boards, red impressed spine titles with red dragon vignettes, light shelf wear, bow, discoloration. Frontispiece plate of classic design: "The Persian hero Gushtap killing the dragon. From a Persian edition of Firdausi's poem, Shah Namah, seventeenth century". Pages near fine, clean; no writing. Deep red endpapers. Original bookbinding adhesive can be seen through adhered endpaper. Illustrated throughout with iconic and ancient symbols, symbology, medieval sculptures, illustrations, photography, etc. Bind fine; hinges intact. Superbly written rarity from Ernest Ingersoll, author of Birds in Legend, Fable and Folklore, &c. with an introduction by Henry Fairfield Osborn of the American Museum of Natural History, dated December 20, 1927. The dragon is the earliest known mythological creature in recorded history. In the Western World it has figured romantically in legend, literature, sculpture and painting in all times and all countries. It is sometimes a benevolent beast, sometimes a god, sometimes a demon. Descended from the snake, the lion, the eagle, falcon and hawk, its form and appearance vary as greatly as its character, from country to country. Mr. Ingersoll has searched its origin and traced its development with a grace that does not hide his erudition, and has achieved a book whose strict and comprehensive marshalling of facts will recommend itself to the scholar, while his clear style and unusual subject matter appears no less to the more caually interested reader. Features Contents include: "Introduction; Contents; Illustration Contents w/Detailed Descriptors; I Birth of the Dragon; II Wanderings of the Young Dragon; III Indian Nagas and Draconic Prototypes; IV The Divine Spirit of the Waters; V Draconic Grandparents; VI The Dragon as a Rain-God; VII Korean Water and Mountain Spirits; VIII "The Men of the Dragon Bones:; IX The Dragon in Japanese Art; X The Dragon's Precious Pearl; XI The Dragon Invades the West; XII The 'Old Serpent' and His Progeny; XIII Welsh Romances and English Legends; XIV The Dragon and the Holy Cross; XV To the Glory of St. George; a Bibligraphy; and, a detailed Index." From title page: "There's no such thing in nature, and you'll draw a faultless monster which the world ne'er saw." Set in Twelve point Garamond on the Linotype. 202 pages. Insured post.. Facsimile First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall.