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GODWIN, MALCOLM: : The Holy Grail: ITS ORIGINS,SECRETS & MEANING REVEALED

LONDON.BLOOMSBURY,1994.

ISBN 0747516626.

UK,8vo HB+protective dw/dj,1st edn. FINE+/FINE.Neat,blue ink previous owner inscrptn (name,address+date) to top of ffe,and price-clipped dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,glossy colour photographic illustrated upper panel,and an Alan Lee, colour illustrated vignette to rear,with black and gilt lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present,due in part,to a protective,clear polythene sleeve cover.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - would appear unread? Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original,plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip,a black and silver striped headband,and immaculate (apart from aforementioned ffe) gilt coloured endpapers.UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,1st edn,4-255pp includes publisher/ copyright page verso of title page,contents list/table,intro,Pts I+II comprising 4 and 6 chapters respectively,profuse b/w+colour, contemporary maps,illustrations and photographs throughout the text and the book,acknowledgements+bibliography to rear. TWELFTH CENTURY Europe was a time of unprecedented spiritual awakening.The Crusades to the Holy Land had returned with new esoteric secrets from the East. The heretical Cathars were challenging the authority of a divided and corrupt Church of Rome and women were at last accorded a new power and position,forming their own Courts of Love.Out of this extraordinary new age arose a legend which was to surpass all previous Western myths -that of a mystical object called the Holy Grail and a knightly Quest in search of it. Between 1190 and 1220,there was an outpouring of stories about this sacred artifact.Deemed heretical by the Church and yet said to hold the blood of the crucified Christ,the Grail chalice was supposedly brought to Britain two thousand years ago.And although the legend is set in the Arthurian Britain of the sixth century,tradition traces the cup of the last supper to a Cathar stronghold in the Pyrenees,under the guardianship of the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem.The legend of the Holy Grail is not one story,but many,and this book explores the major,and very different, accounts which appeared within a thirty-year span. The legends of the Quest are taken from many sources including the earliest pagan tales of the Celtic Peredur,the unfinished,courtly epic of Cretien de Troyes,Le Conte del Graal,and a little- known poetic gem called the Diu Crone,or the Jeweled Crown.The great Cistercian epic of the Vulgate Cycle,which includes the Queste del San Graal,is probably the account known best to Western readers,yet many more are examined including Perlesvaus,Joseph d'Arimathie,Merlin,the Didot-Perceval and Parzival. In addition we discover that Mary Magdalene is a central figure within the legends and that the miraculous Black Virgin statues,still found throughout Europe today,have strange and intimate ties with the Grail. Even tarot cards contain the sacred Hallows along with a complete blueprint for the Grail Quest,devised by the Templar knights,who spread its heretical secret while being hidden from the Inquisition. Lavishly illustrated,this thought-provoking book bridges an eight-hundred- year gap with a living legend. Artist,sculptor,designer,author and recluse,Malcom Godwin's first book, 'Unknown Man',was published in 1987 and immediately acquired a cult following in the US.His second book,'ANGELS,An Endangered Species',is still one of the biggest-selling books on the subject three years after first publication.Godwin has spent many of the last twenty years, including seven being in India, investigating the enigmatic,sometime enlightening,and,up until now,totally frustrating process of spiritual awakening. 'The Holy Grail' is one of the unique results of that 'inner journey'. Please contact seller,because of the weight and value of this item,for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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