Louis le Brocquy Táin illustrations

Infobox Book
name = The Táin


image_caption = "The Táin", 1969. First edition.
author = Thomas Kinsella. Translated from the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, the central tale in the Ulster Cycle.
country = Ireland
language = English
cover_artist = Louis le Brocquy (slipcase with papered boards). Illustrated throughout with 133 black and white lithographic brush drawings.
series =
genre = Irish Mythology
publisher = Dolmen Editions IX, Dolmen Press, Dublin
release_date =1969
media_type =
pages =
isbn = ISBN13: 9780192803733 ISBN10: 0192803735 (OUP paperback editions)
preceded_by =
followed_by = 's Táin, they are a humble one. It is as shadows thrown by the text that they derive their substance.'

The Táin, 1969

Publication of The Táin, The Dolmen Press, Dublin, September 1969. Widely acknowledged as the great Irish Livre d'Artiste of the twentieth century, Seamus Heaney writes in The Listener: 'The book is illustrated lavishly and magnificently by Louis le Brocquy: "marks in printer's ink", he calls his contribution, "shadows thrown by the text". Sometimes they are runs, sometimes a rush of brush strokes, sometimes a tall totem in the margin. The remote significance of the story, the bold vigour among the ranks of heroes and the wily, sexual presence of the women are continuously insinuated by the graphic commentary. Altogether the poetry, painting and printing make this an important book, the fulfilment of apublishing dream.' Le Brocquy's illustrations receive critical acclaim for their level of interplay with Kinsella's writing. According to Aidan Dunne: 'The brush drawings merged seamlessly with the text; stark, fluent images, they expressed with great economy of means an epic breadth, evoking the movement of vast masses of people. Individual participants in the drama were also pulled into close focus. To achieve this, le Brocquy developed his brilliant idiom of calligraphic illustration ... Le Brocquy's achievement lies in having absorbed the general technical possibilities and harnessed them to his own specific ends, and, in the process, having managed to break new ground. The Táin drawings managed a well-nigh perfect marriage of text and image, and their impact was considerable.' . He also has that individual force, stemming from tireless curiosity, which gives coherence to a career - the kind of force that insists on artistic growth, or change, and ensures that any stimulus, however seemingly random, finds a central response.'

Táin Portfolios, 1969

Consisting of three different sets of twelve black and white lithographic brush drawings selected from the Táin illustrations - five ‘Individual Subjects’ and four chromo-lithographic ‘Epic Shields’ separate). Limited edition of 70 proofs (one Artist’s Proof), each sheet individually signed, dated and numbered by the artist – including portfolio numbers (I, II, & III). Printed by Frank O’Reilly, Dublin, on Swiftbrook paper, each sheet 54 x 38 cm. Large folio, unbound, with title pages and black interleaves. Boxed by Museum Bookbinders, Dublin. Clamshell, black boards stamped in white in a design by the artist.

Exhibited for the first time at the Dawson Gallery, Dublin in October 1969, Brian Fallon writes in the The Irish Times: 'The Kinsella-Le Brocquy Tåin was a stunner in terms of book production, a triumph for Liam Miller and the Dolmen, and a high-water mark in Irish publishing ... The result is very impressive, I should say one of the very best things Le Brocquy has done. It will be impossible from now on to think of the Irish Iliad in terms of the pseudo-medieval clutter of the old-style illustrations - helmeted warriors laden with "props" and looking rather like understudies for a Wagner opera. Le Brocquy's conception is epic, stark and primitive, at times even sinister (as in the superb "Morrigan"). In an idiom that can take in its stride hints from oriental art, cave painting, Picasso and other sources he has created powerfully and economically an entire mythico-legendary world.'

Kinsella-le Brocquy Táin editions

The Táin, Dolmen Edition IX (Dublin: Dolmen Press, 1969). Limited edition of 1,750 copies (incl. 50 Deluxe copies). 133 black and white lithographic brush drawings on paper specially made by Swiftbrook Paper Mills, Co. Dublin, reproduced by line block, The National Engraving Company. Printed by Liam Browne, Dolmen Press, Dublin, bound by Hely Thom, Dublin. Designed by Liam Miller, text composed in fourteen point Pilgrim and ten point Pilgrim with Perpetua and Felix titlings. Tall octavo, black cloth boards, stamped in white in a design by the artist, illustrated dust-jacket. Housed in publisher’s slipcase with papered boards illustrated in a design by the artist.

The Táin, Deluxe Edition, Dolmen Edition IX (Dublin: The Dolmen Press, 1969). Limited to 50 numbered copies, signed by author, artist and designer on colophon. 133 black and white lithographic brush drawings on paper specially made by Swiftbrook Paper Mills, Co. Dublin, reproduced by line block, The National Engraving Company. Printed by Liam Browne, Dolmen Press, Dublin. Extra suite of ‘Warp Spasm’ lithographic brush drawings on three consecutive opening pages. Bound by Desmond Smith, Irish University Press Bindery to a design by Liam Miller. Vermilion oasis niger goatskin, boards stamped in gold on front and back in a design by the artist. Housed in publisher’s black cloth boxed-case.

The Táin, Hardback trade edition (Oxford/New York: O.U.P., in association with the Dolmen Press Limited, Dublin, 1970). 33 illustrations photographically reduced from the original edition. Black cloth boards, stamped in white in a design by the artist with illustrated dust-jacket.

The Táin, Paperback edition (O.U.P., Oxford/New York, 1972 - 2007). 30 illustrations retained. Library Edition (Mountrath, Portlaoise: The Dolmen Press, in association with the University Press of Pennsylvania, 1985). 108 illustrations photographically reduced by 11% from the original limited edition. Printed and bound by Leinster Leader Ltd. Black cloth over boards, stamped in white in a design by the artist with illustrated dust-jacket.

Translations

Rinderraub, Susanne Schaup, trans. (Heimeran Verlag, Munich/Rütten & Loening, Berlin in association with the Dolmen Press, 1976). One hundred and fourteen full-scale illustrations. Tall octavo, white cloth over boards, stamped in black in a design by the artist with illustrated dust-jacket.

La Razzia, Jean-Philippe Imbert, trans. (Tours: Alfil Editions, 1996). 30 illustrations retained, paperback.

El Táin, Pura López Colomé, trans. (Mexico: Smurfit Group, 2001). Fully illustrated hardback and paperback editions.

夺牛记 (The Táin), 托马斯·金塞拉 (Thomas Kinsella),曹波 (Cao Bo) trans. (Beijing: Hunan Education Press & Yingpan Brother Publishing Co., Ltd, 2008). Paperback edition, 30 illustrations retained.

External links

* http://www.lebrocquy.com