"The Story of Roland" by James Baldwin, illustrated by Peter Hurd, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, NY, 1930. First Scribner edition with colophon on the copyright page. First issue for Peter Hurd illustrations.

Hard boards, original black cloth with color illustration on the front board [some wear]; 7.1/4" x 9.1/2"; color illustrated endpapers, red inked "BR" on top of the half-title page; color illustrated title page on glossy paper, 347 pages + Scribner's ad + 9 color plates on glossy paper [all listed plates are present], a few stains, slightly bumped bottom edge of the pages, very good condition.

Here are related the daring feats and great exploits of Roland, worthiest of the barons of France in the time of Charlemagne, and those of Oliver and Reinold and Ogier the Dane, all heroes who were his companions in arms and who rivalled him in the number and greatness of their exploits. The story is culled from the works of European song-writers and poets of five centuries.

James Baldwin (1841-1925) was an American editor and author. Largely self-educated, he began teaching at the age of 24. In addition to editing school books, he started writing books of his own. After the publication in 1882 of The Story of Siegfried, he went on to write more than 50 others. At one time it was estimated that of all the school books in use in the United States, over half had been written or edited by him. He is best remembered for the books of introductory historical sketches he wrote for younger students and his retellings of the legends of heroes for older students. Other works include: The Story of Roland (1883), A Story of the Golden Age (1887), Old Greek Stories (1895), Fifty Famous Stories Retold (1896), Four Great Americans (1897), Hero Tales (1904), Fifty Famous People (1912) and In My Youth (1914).

Peter Hurd (1904-1984) was an American painter whose work is strongly associated with the people and landscapes of San Patricio, New Mexico, where he lived from the 1930s. He is equally acclaimed for his portraits and his western landscapes.

Early in his life, Hurd studied in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania under the noted illustrator N.C. Wyeth, along with two of his grown children. Hurd later married the painter's eldest daughter, Henriette Wyeth, who also is known as an accomplished painter. During World War II, Hurd worked for Life magazine as a war correspondent attached to the US Air Force. He created hundreds of "War Sketches". Hurd’s years with the Air Force had a profound effect on his artistic work. He had always been a careful and precise worker when he worked in tempera. But as an embedded war reporter documenting urgent or fleeting moments, he had to draw and work much more quickly. He began using watercolor, which he soon mastered. When he returned to painting the New Mexico landscapes, his work was characterized by a new freedom and looseness, but still displayed his customary subtle tones as a gifted colorist.

Some of Hurd’s most well-known portraits were of his neighbors, family, and friends at Sentinel Ranch. He loved to paint people who were deeply connected to the land, and always showed them outdoors, against the hills and sky. He wrote, “the ones I like best to paint are those whose lives are spent under the sky: Men whose clothing, skin and eyes are all conditioned by the wind.” His Portrait of Jose shows the foreman of Sentinel Ranch amid the ridges of the land he cared for. In what is perhaps Hurd’s hallmark work, Eve of St. John, Herrera’s daughter is bathed in the light of a candle she carries.

From 1953 to 1954, Hurd was commissioned for a major mural by Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) in Lubbock, Texas. He and his assistants painted the fresco mural in the rotunda of what was then the West Texas Museum (now Holden Hall). Hurd completed about one fresco per week over a two-year period, depicting pioneers and influential leaders of West Texas. Hurd also was commissioned to paint the official portraits of two heads of state, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.

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