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The Psalms of David

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The Psalms of David

James S. Freemantle
Foreword by Stephen Freemantle

Back in print, The Psalms of David is a unique, beautifully illustrated edition of the revered religious work, often referred to as the Book of Psalms.

The lifework of a little known genius, this facsimile edition of a magnificent hand-painted illumination of the Psalms of David is a stunning tribute to love and spiritual devotion.

Born in India, James Freemantle traveled through the Middle East all over his years in the British Army. Shortly after his second marriage, he began this hand-lettered, illustrated volume for his beloved bride, Clara. For the next thirty years, he periodically worked to transfer the psalms into a book that would physically match the lyrical great thing about the poetry.

Throughout the book one finds the brilliantly colored blooms of India: the jacaranda, the flame-of-the-forest, huge yellow laburnums, brilliant poinsettias, and highly scented mimosa. The pages are alive with kingfishers and larks, drummers and hoppie butterflies, storks and pheasants. There are pictures of the lake near Freemantle’s home, the nearby Brahmin temple, and the view from the train as he went up to school in the hills. Scenes from his travels in the army, Middle Eastern harbors and villages, and copies of illustrations from Victorian go back and forth books reveal his draftsman’s training in the accuracy of each and every detail.

A labor of love, a work of art, a volume to treasure, this illuminated edition of the King James version of the Psalms of David is the very best gift for all seasons.

Of the scores of gift editions of the Book of Psalms, one of the crucial strangest and most beautiful is The Psalms of David, with illuminations by James S. Freemantle. An Englishman born in India in 1859, Freemantle traveled widely in the Middle East all over his years in the British Army before marrying a woman named Clara in 1906. Around the time they were married, Freemantle began work on this painstakingly rendered book as a gift for her. Nearly each and every page is full of illustrations of magnificent Indian and Middle Eastern flora and fauna (including poinsettias, mimosas, canna lilies, kingfishers, storks, and pheasants) and of Brahmin temples and Christian and Jewish holy sites–even a gigantic iceberg. Almost 30 years after he began, Freemantle finished the book. In the foreword to this new edition (first published in 1982), Freemantle’s son Stephen writes that his father used to be “not a religious man.” Without reference to the precise nature of Freemantle’s beliefs, his exuberant illuminations testify to his great love of his wife, of the world, and of the Psalms. –Michael Joseph Gross

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