"The Chronicle of the Cid", translated from the Spanish by Robert Southey, with an Introduction by U.S. Pritchett, illustrated by Rene Ben Sussan, published by the Heritage Press, New York, 1958. The Sundglass brochure, original 1950s Heritage bill for this book, and original slipcase are present.

Original slipcase; hard boards, original decorated cloth with lettering on spine [slightly darkened spine]; 8" x 11.1/2"; the Sandglass and 1950s' Heritage bill for this book are present; xxxiv + 2 + 196 pages including Glossary + c. 15 unlisted full-page color plates, very good condition.

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (1040-1099), known as El Cid, was a nobleman, a gifted military leader and diplomat who, after being exiled, conquered and governed the city of Valencia. El Cid was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the chief general of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.

"This piece of literature from the middle ages is a bit of a slow read but still quite entertaining - the Spanish hero embodies all that is good and noble." [private review]

"They sin who tell us Love can die: with Life all other passions fly, all others are but vanity."

The translator, Robert Southey (1774-1843) was a poet of the Romantic school and one of the "Lake Poets". Although his fame has been eclipsed by that of his friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey's verse was highly influential, and he wrote movingly against the horrors and injustice of the slave trade. Among his other classics are "Inchcape Rock" as well as a number of plays including "Wat Tyler". In 1813, he was offered by George II the post of Poet Laureate, a post Southey accepted and kept till his death. Southey was also a prolific literary scholar, essay writer, historian and biographer. His biographies included those of John Bunyan, John Wesley, William Cowper, Oliver Cromwell and Horatio Nelson. He was a renowned scholar of Portuguese and Spanish literature and history, and translated works from those two languages into English and wrote a History of Brazil and a History of the Peninsular War. Perhaps his most enduring contribution is the children's classic "The Story of the Three Bears", the original Goldilocks story.

Rene Ben Sussan (born 1895 in Salonika) was an illustrator, wood engraver, etcher, lithographer and typographer. His most widely seen works are his illustrations for the various 'Limited Editions Club' and Heritage Press series of small print runs of handmade and hand-bound books. Rene exhibited with the Salon d Automne 1921, and the Salon des Tuileries 1924-1928. He lived in England from c.1934-1938 and taught at the Ecole Estienne in Paris c.1950s through the 1960s. No works by Rene Ben Sussan are recorded after 1960. He occasionally used the pseudonym Zazoute.

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