WAR AND PEACE A Novel by Leo Tolstoy Translated From the Russian by Louise and Aylmer Maude, With a Special Introduction For This Edition by Aylmer Maude.

6 volumes. LIMITED EDITION, one of only 1500 hand-numbered copies SIGNED AND FINGERPRINTED by illustrator Barnett Freedman. With stunning full-page colour lithographs drawn on stone, black and white lineblocks within the text, and colour endpapers all by Barnett Freedman. Tall 8vos, in the publisher's original bindings of decorated red cloth, also designed by Barnett Freedman, which feature portraits of various characters on the upper covers and the years covered by each volume on the lower cover and the spines lettered in black, still in the rarely encountered original glassine wrappers and in the publisher's two original slipcases which hold three volumes each. An especially fine set, the books themselves are pristine and flawless. The glassine wrappers with some to-be-expected wear at the edges and some chipping, but all still present and in quite good condition, the slipcases sturdy, strong, and handsome with no splitting, a little rubbed at the edges and just a tad of age evidence.

Edizione: a stunning limited edition set in original six-volume format of tolstoy’s epic of the napoleonic wars. a work which has few peers in world literature; john galsworthy described it as “the greatest novel ever written.” e. m. forster, in his aspects of the novel , declared that “(n)o english novelist is as great as tolstoy, that is to say, has given so complete a picture of man’s life, both on its domestic and heroic side.” similarly, de vogüé, the “greatest french authority on russian literature.remarks that:.’ it is a faithful picture of life: the experience of a traveller thrown among a society new to him--constraint and boredom at first, then curiosity and at last a firm attachment. i admit sotto voce that i know nothing superior to it in any literature.’” <br> the maudes' translation was first published in the world classics series in 1933 and is based on tolstoy's own final revisions. the special introduction was written for this edition specifically and has been used since in subsequent editions.<br> the lec edition of war and peace is considered by many to be barnett freedman's masterpiece, though it is but one of many impressive works to be illustrated by him. among his many honours are commander of the order of the british empire, fellow of the royal society of arts, and royal designer for industry.