The Isle of Pines, from Wayzgoose Press

$485.00

(Wayzgoose Press) The Isle of Pines. By Henry Neville. Illustrated by Mike Hudson. Introduction by James Rigney. Katoomba. NSW. [Australia.] 1991. 44(1)p. 12” x 7.5”. Linocuts in black, yellow, brown and black with white by Hudson, who also designed and bound the edition. Handset by Jadwiga Jarvis. Printed in black and brown by Jarvis and Hudson. Bound in cream cloth boards; sun design in orange and red, with black ship, title in black on spine. Endpapers printed with sun design in orange and red. Red paper over board slipcase with black paper trim. No. 40 in an edition of 55 copies. Prospectus laid in. Fine.

Henry Neville (1620-1694), the author of The Isle of Pines, was a member of a noble family with a long and influential record of involvement in the political life of seventeenth century England … the tale, written after the restoration of the Stuart monarchy, is a project of the experience of defeat.

The narrative begins with George Pine, an imaginary traveler marooned with four women on an idyllic island somewhere in the vicinity of Australia. With no apparent need to work on this island, he sets about the task of populating and colonizing it. After his death, his only son and heir tries to establish an idyllic republic, but does not succeed.