Ursula K. Le Guin

Book 1 of Tales of Earthsea Series

A Wizard of Earthsea

US$80

Illustrated by David Lupton

Introduced By David Mitchell

A true great of the fantasy genre, Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea brims over with danger and wild magic. Illustrated by David Lupton and introduced by David Mitchell.

Perfect Additions

The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Le Guin
The Tombs of Atuan
Ursula K. Le Guin
The Farthest Shore
Ursula K. Le Guin
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin
Tehanu
US$80
Tales from Earthsea
Ursula K. Le Guin
The Other Wind
Ursula K. Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea

US$80
Book Details
 
Presentation Box & BindingBound in printed and blocked buckram
Plain slipcase
Printed endpapers
Dimensions9 inches x 5¾ inches
FontSet in Garamond with Dulcinea Serif display
Pages232 pages
AuthorUrsula K. Le Guin
Illustrated byDavid Lupton
IllustrationFrontispiece and 6 colour illustrations
Publication Date14/10/2015
Editor's Notes
 
Ursula K. Le Guin built her fantasy worlds with an eye for realism and emotional truth; the result with the Books of Earthsea is a fantasy series that is as moving as it is magical. In his introduction, author and fantasy fan David Mitchell celebrates the striking originality of Le Guin’s world, an archipelago filled with bustling humanity and a solid lack of whimsy. The endpapers of this edition feature maps drawn by Martin Sanders based on the originals by Le Guin, and The Folio Society worked closely with the author to produce illustrations that would do her creation justice. David Lupton’s atmospheric paintings show Earthsea and Ged as the author intended – a place of sea and salt; a hero of light and shadow. The first volume in a quartet that has enchanted generations of readers and writers alike, A Wizard of Earthsea is an essential fantasy classic.

See the Folio Le Guin collection here.

About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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Author image

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was born in Berkeley and lived in Portland, Oregon. She published 21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories, 4 collections of essays, 12 books for children, 6 volumes of poetry and 4 translated works, and received many honours and awards, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, a National Book Award and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. A Wizard of Earthsea (1968; Folio Society 2015, 2022) is her best-known work; it is the first book of Earthsea, which includes The Tombs of Atuan (1971; Folio Society 2022), The Farthest Shore (1972; Folio Society 2022), Tehanu (1990; Folio Society 2023), Tales from Earthsea (2001; Folio Society 2023) and The Other Wind (2001; Folio Society 2024). Her Hugo Award-winning novels, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969; Folio Society 2018) and The Dispossessed (1974; Folio Society 2019) have also been produced as Folio editions.

David Mitchell is a British novelist. He grew up in Malvern, Worcestershire, and studied at the University of Kent, where he earned a degree in English and American Literature and an MA in Comparative Literature. Named one of Granta’s ’Best of Young British Novelists’ in 2003, he has written numerous novels, two of which, number1dream (2001) and Cloud Atlas (2004), were shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.