Letter sent to the Beowulf team at Folio Society, 14/11/23.
“Today the most enormous box arrived from Folio Society. Packed immaculately, it took me a while to work my way to the contents and unwrap the top copy of the three books within. I’m not sure I have the words to express what I feel, but I’ll do my best.
The edition is staggering, unarguably the most magnificent and significant creation of my career as an illustrator. My hands shook as I went through it page by page. The book design and text layouts, airily perfect. The translation from pen and ink artworks into illustrations, nothing short of a miracle. I worked on the drawings for many months, so I know what they look like in every detail because my nose was practically glued to them as I tapped away into the small hours rendering all that pointillism. But even though they’re all but tattooed on the insides of my eyelids, seeing them afresh and reinvented by the inversions and additions of colour, I’m knocked sideways. (The printing of the images is perfect in every way.) I’m so happy that the book is steeped in all the right traditions, and yet feels boldly contemporary. The binding and box are wonderful beyond all my imaginings and anticipation. Sumptuous in every way, the sensations of opening and turning the pages of the edition become visceral. Everything under the fingertips silky to the touch. The scents of the book, the leather, paper, glue and ink, all immersive and thrilling.
Sunday marked my seventy-second birthday, and Beowulf has been the best present. Not all book outcomes can be happy. I’ve made books in the past for which my hopes were high but things were not, in the end, done well. However all disappointments crumble before this edition of a text I love. Seriously, I could die happy knowing I’d made this one book.
My warmest good wishes to you all,
Clive Hicks-Jenkins”
Click here for a video review of the book.
Above: promotional animated video for Beowulf produced by David W. Slack
I had no idea just how lavish the book was to be when I first began work on it. It was only stage by stage that it began to dawn on me that the binding and clamshell box, built at the bookbinders Smith Settle in Leeds, were going to be works of art in their own right. I made all the illustrations at the size they were to be printed, so from the start I was aware that the edition was going to be on a handsome scale.
Above: Pen and ink illustrations in progress on my desk
Reviews from the Folio Society Website
Heroic volume for a heroic tale! I could smell the vellum the moment I opened the beautiful cloth-covered box. Wonderful. The book’s cover and the marvellous illustrations are reminiscent of Sutton Hoo without being exact copies. The thick, high quality paper is a joy to handle. The new Introduction is interesting. This is a volume to treasure. Really not too pricey considering its very high quality, the greatness of the tale and the beauty of the Heaney translation.
Review by Mr James Barry on 03/01/24 *****
Simply a stunning classic which I will hold for a lifetime and pass on to be enjoyed. The design and illustrations take you into the mythology with a powerful effect.
Review by a customer on 18/07/23 *****
A stunning book I can’t fault in any way.
Review by Steve Shaw-Wright on 21/07/23 *****
Extra large format book expertly produced with high quality components and materials. Not a single defect in craftsmanship. Oh, and my favourite translation by the way!
Review by Francis LaMorte, MD on 09/08/23 *****
Clive Hicks-Jenkins' Artlog: 
I’ve just stumbled onto your work and this blog. The images and video I see about your illustrated works for the Folio Society’s book Beowulf are absolutely amazing. I look forward to seeing more in the future.
Thank you for those kind words.
I watched the video review of the book and was left absolutely gobsmacked by how beautiful the book looked, in every detail, huge congrats Clive
The quality of the video is staggering. I was hugely impressed by the camerawork and the sense of the book as an object. I wrote to him to express my thanks.
Its a great book, one I hope to own one day, myself and my son have looked at it in great detail on line, its one of our favourite stories. Thank you for creating the best illustrations on earth for this book. We are saving up especially to buy a copy, you must be sooo happy. We send you all our best for your birthday and cant wait to see what book you illustrate next xxx
Deborah, I’m so touched by your comment. Thank you. It’s a costly item and I understand how much thought would need to go into such an acquisition. If it’s any help at all, I’d say that until I had my copy in my hands, I had no real understanding of just how extraordinarily beautiful it is. (And weighty.)
People have been voicing quite a lot of anger about the price, and as is so often the way online, expressing their frustration by diminishing the book and the efforts of all those who created it. Weirdly, few of them mention the book’s visuals when writing scornfully, but make comments that the leather binding or the weight of the paper can’t possibly account for the price. Because it’s hard to fully appreciate in photographs, they ignore the sheer craftsmanship of the robust clamshell box with its beautiful lining-paper, and the fantastic construction of the book. I’ve never held a book quite like it in my hand, and it saddens me that these social media critics begrudge the great tradition of bookbinding represented by the edition. There are books, and then there are books, and there are gulfs between what is made for the budget buyer and what has been bound and cased in the way of this Beowulf.
In times past beautiful, costly editions were often wrapped for safe keeping in soft cloth to protect them, which is what I’ve done with my copy. It’s the only book I have protected in this way, and I keep it flat on a table, because I like to look at it often. I don’t think there will be another quite like this for me. I count myself so lucky to have been given the opportunity to work on this text by this translator. It’s been the greatest thrill.
Wow. Illustrating for Folio Society is HUGE. A very hearty congratulations to you Clive. You deserve it. So happy to see this post.
Priya, thank you so much. This was such a special commission. Many years ago Seamus Heaney freely gave me permission to print one of his poems in an exhibition catalogue. At the time it felt like a great privilege, and I hoped to one day meet him and thank him in person. Alas, that never happened. I worked on this edition of Beowulf for a year, and the result is one I’m proud of. The collaboration at Folio was magical from start to finish. I think I’ve found my home!