Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Pages in good condition. Some light tanning due to age.. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> Mervyn Peake?s literary works once overlooked by the public during his lifetime despite critical acclaim now enjoy a reverence unimaginable to their early readers. While initial reviews praised his novels commercial success eluded them?a stark contrast to their current status as modern classics inspiring today?s readers as profoundly as Dickens?s stories captivated his own era. Peake?s visionary Gormenghast trilogy?Titus Groan Gormenghast and Titus Alone?transcended the literary trends of their time emerging as a singular achievement that continues to spark fascination with their creator: a polymath who excelled as a novelist poet playwright and the preeminent book illustrator of his generation. Drawing on unparalleled access to Peake?s personal archives and the insights of his widow artist Maeve Gilmore family friend John Watney crafts the first comprehensive biography of this enigmatic figure. Born in China in 1911 to missionary parents Peake spent his formative years immersed in a world of cross-cultural contrasts before relocating to England at age 12. Educated at Eltham College and the Royal Academy Schools he forged a path as an artist finding early recognition within Sark?s bohemian artist community. Later in London?s creative circles he befriended luminaries such as Augustus John (who championed his doomed bid to become a war artist) a sartorially incompatible Dylan Thomas (notorious for ?borrowing? Peake?s clothes) and Graham Greene who aided in publishing Titus Groan. His 1937 marriage to Maeve Gilmore a fellow artist anchored a life devoted to boundless creativity?until his untimely death in 1968 left behind a legacy only fully appreciated in the decades since. (SP)