Mervyn Peake

The Gormenghast Trilogy

Name: The Gormenghast Trilogy
SKU: GORM
Price: 165 GBP
Availability: InStock

£165

Illustrated By Dave McKean

Introduced By Neil Gaiman

The gothic majesty of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy is presented in this visionary edition from Folio. Introduced by Neil Gaiman, and illustrated by the extraordinary Dave McKean, this is an original take on a cornerstone of speculative fiction.

The Gormenghast Trilogy

£165

Book Details

Presentation Box & BindingThree-quarter bound in blocked cloth with a blocked cloth front board
Printed slipcase
Printed endpapers
Three volume set
Printed in colour throughout

Dimensions10 inches x 6¾ inches

FontSet in Albertina

Pages1,376 pages

AuthorMervyn Peake

Illustrated ByDave McKean

Illustration142 colour illustrations integrated throughout the three volumes 

Publication Date05/03/2024

Editor's Notes

A crumbling castle the size of a city. A menagerie of sinister eccentrics. A labyrinth of ritual, mystery and conspiracy. This is the world of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, three masterpieces of the fantastic – Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959) – collected by Folio in an edition as fantastical as the books themselves. A new and innovative vision of these classic works, this box-set collection is truly worthy of one of the wildest imaginations in literature.
An author, poet, playwright and artist, Peake wrote with a painter’s eye. His peculiar flair for life and colour is perfectly captured in brand-new illustrations by award-winning artist and designer Dave McKean, who provides the collection’s 142 original hand-drawn illustrations, as well as startling cover designs for each book. The trilogy has cast its spell over generations of readers, writers, illustrators and musicians, as well as Neil Gaiman – yet another Peake devotee – examines the trilogy’s appeal in his introduction to this unique Folio edition.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dave McKean

Dave McKean has released 60 books as an illustrator, author, photographer and designer, including Cages (1990–6, winner of two Harvey Awards, the Ignatz Award, La Pantera Award, and the Alph-Art Award), Pictures That Tick (2009, V&A Illustrated Book of the Year), and Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash (2016, a 14–18 NOW Foundation/Imperial War Museum/LICAF commission). He has collaborated with Neil Gaiman (Sandman, 1989–97; Coraline, 2002), John Cale (What’s Welsh for Zen, 1998; Sedition and Alchemy, 2003), David Almond (The Savage, 2008), Richard Dawkins (The Magic of Reality, 2011), Heston Blumenthal (as Director of Story at The Fat Duck), and others. He has worked in theatre, galleries, and the music industry, and has written and directed three feature films: MirrorMask (2005), The Gospel of Us (2012, winner of two Cymru BAFTAs), and Luna (2014, winner of the Raindance Award for Best Picture, BIFA). He illustrated the Folio Society edition of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods in 2017 and Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend in 2018.

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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dave McKean

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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dave McKean

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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dave McKean

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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dave McKean

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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dave McKean

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Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was born to Christian missionaries in the Kiang-Hsi Province of China. He returned to England at the age of twelve, and later trained at the Royal Academy of Arts. Joining the Royal Artillery in 1940, Peake received a special dispensation to continue writing his first novel, Titus Groan. Having served as a war artist for the Ministry of Information, he moved to the island of Sark and lived in an artist’s colony with his family. A prolific and well-regarded illustrator, Peake provided extraordinary images for all his own works, including the children’s book Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor (1939), and his novels Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950), Mr Pye (1953) and Titus Alone (1959). He also illustrated several classics including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as publishing several of his own plays and volumes of poetry. Regarded as one of Britain’s greatest literary fabulists, Peake continues to influence generations of authors and filmmakers including Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman and Terry Gilliam.

Neil Gaiman is the author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. Notable works include the groundbreaking series Sandman and the novels Good Omens (1990, in collaboration with Terry Pratchett), Stardust (1999), American Gods (2001, The Folio Society 2017), Anansi Boys (2005, The Folio Society 2019) and Neverwhere (1996, The Folio Society 2022).

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